Men Suck!
by vegamarie
Summary: This is another BV get together. What's a girl going to do when every male she deals with is either an idiot or a temperamental freak? She's just going to have to get tough! Chpt 34 is up! Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I love DBZ and wish I had some part in its creation, but all of that credit goes Akira Toriyama as do all characters is this story! Hope you enjoy!_

_P.S. I think I made Bulma to be a bit younger than she is during this part of DBZ._

_Chapter 1_

'Men suck!' thought a very angry and distraught Bulma as she furiously wiped the tears that were streaking down her face and botching her perfect makeup. Why couldn't she find her car keys? Were the God's against her? She just wanted to leave this hellhole of a restaurant, find a peaceful unpopulated spot and vent her anger and frustration against the opposite sex. Her day had started out bad, and it was becoming progressively worse.

"Bulma!"

'Kami, could this day get any worse?' Bulma thought as she looked up from her purse at the sound of her name. She saw Yamcha running through the crowded parking lot as though some sort of evil monster was chasing him. She quickly wiped the remaining tears off of her face and glared at him as he skidded to a stop in front of her.

"Yamcha, what a surprise! I see you're enjoying yourself today. But wait! I think I must have missed something important. Didn't you tell me you had to train all day and that you didn't have time to go out for the afternoon? I thought that's what you told me. Obviously, I was mistaken." The sarcasm practically dripped off her tongue and would have put gouges in the concrete they were standing on if it had been actual poison.

Of course, Yamcha missed her acidic tone as he went on to explain himself to her. 'As if I'm going to be dumb enough to believe the bullshit he comes up with. One time is fine, even two times I can deal with, but by the third time, he's got to be deluding himself if he thinks I am going to fall for his crap.'

Yamcha looked at her with the sheepish expression she had gotten used to over the past few weeks. He ran his hands through his hair in a nervous gesture and laughed uncertainly.

"H-hey Bulma love. I did tell you I was busy, but can't a guy take a break and get something to eat? I mean, I might not have a Saiyan appetite, but that doesn't mean I don't get hungry." He looked at her with his sad puppy dog eyes. She wanted to smack the sick expression off of his stupid looking scarred up face.

She stepped a little bit closer to him and ran her finger along his jaw line. She smiled sweetly at him. He smirked confidently at her after she smiled, thinking he was of the hook. Of course, if he had been paying any attention to her eyes, he would have run away from her as fast as his long legs could carry him.

"Of course you need to eat! What was I thinking, my poor ittle wittle Yamcha munhkin? A warrior needs to keep up his strength!" She ran her hand down his neck and pectoral muscles, stopping at his stomach. She started to laugh inwardly as his breathing picked up and his eyes clouded with barely concealed lust.

"I knew you'd understand Bulma-chan." He stepped closer as he tried to anchor his arm around her waist.

"Of course I understand Yamcha." Bulma looked at him; the fake smile still plastered on her face, as she balled the hand that was conveniently placed on his stomach into a tight fist. "I understand perfectly!" With that, she pushed all of her anger into the perfectly performed sucker punch to his filthy, cheating, rotten guts. She backed away and smirked menacingly at him as he doubled over and gasped audibly in pain. 'Serves him right to feel a little pain after what I've been going through!' she thought, feeling a bit of satisfaction when she looked at his pathetically weak posture. She backed away from him as he tried to rise up from his doubled over position on the pavement.

"What the hell was that for?" he gasped out angrily.

"That, you big dim-witted jerk, is for having the audacity to think I'm stupid!"

"Yeah, well, you sure as hell are acting stupid Bulma," he rasped out at her as he continued to try to stand up straight. He was still reeling over the fact that she had punched him in the gut and it hurt a lot more then he would have given her credit for.

"Huh, that's what you think! I come here to enjoy a good meal away from that big jerk Vegeta, and what do I find? You sitting and holding hands with a blonde broad! This is the last time that I am going to put up with your cheating ways! It's over between you and me Yamcha. And if I would have been thinking clearly, it would have been over the first time I caught you red handed with another woman! No more nice Bulma for you, you stupid wanker!" Bulma's face had turned an angry shade of red, and her fists were balled up with rage as she finished her shouting tirade at the cringing Yamcha.

"Sheesh Bulma, you could cause a man to go deaf with all of your shrieking!" Yamcha groaned as he finally found himself able to straighten out. Of course, Yamcha being the idiot that he was should have also realized that telling Bulma she was shrieking would lead to more pain and suffering on his part.

"Did you _just tell me I was SHRIEKING?!! WHY YOU…."_ Bulma screamed as she landed another punch to the helpless Yamcha, this time right in the shoulder. Still recovering from the previous blow, Yamcha fell onto his ass in a most undignified, un-warrior like display.

"For Kami's sake Bulma, would you quit beating me up? Just let me explain before you damage me some more!"

"Why should I let you explain anything to me, bucko? It's just going to be the same lame story it's been the last two times I caught you with another women. I fell for it the first time, seeing as you weren't doing anything that could be warranted as cheating. I believed you the second time, even though you stood me up and then had the audacity to be caught in public yet again with another woman. But I'm not buying it _anymore_! And this time you were a lot warmer to her then if she were just a friend. You two were _kissing_ in broad daylight! I don't know what kind of excuse you're going to come up with to weasel your way out of this situation, but save yourself the energy and breath. I have had **ENOUGH!!!"** Bulma glared at him, and if looks could have killed, he would have been one dead son of a gun. But the one thing that could be said about Yamcha was that he didn't like to quite. And he was set on having Bulma as his "official" girlfriend. I mean, she was perfect for him, and had been as long as he had known her. She was smart, rich, beautiful, rich, charismatic, rich, caring, and rich, rich, RICH!! He couldn't stand the thought of her with anyone else, even though he was too narrow minded to realize that the same should be said about himself. He angrily thought about her obnoxious houseguest, the self proclaimed Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta. She was with the guy twenty four hours a day.

"Hey Bulma," Yamcha said as he pushed himself up off the pavement of the parking lot. "You really don't have much authority in this matter. How can _you_ accuse me of cheating, when you've been doing the same thing?" He looked at her with a matter of fact smirk on his face. 'Try and get out of that one, Princess!' he thought to himself with an inward smile. Even though he knew she really wasn't cheating on him, he had enough evidence to make it seem like she was. And in his own twisted logical sort of way, he decided that since she had the appearance of cheating, it was alright for him to explore little side relationships while he was still in a relationship with her.

"**_WHAT?!!"_** Bulma screamed. She stomped forward until she was a mere inch away from his body. "What the hell are you smoking to think that I have been cheating on you? Who would I possibly cheat with? The only guys I know are in the Z squad, and they are all unavailable. And unlike you, I think it is morally reprehensible to try to get it on with someone who is in a relationship. I mean Krillen is dating that bimbo Marron, Tien has Launch to contend with, Goku is married and has a kid, Piccolo is an asexual alien, and we won't even go there with Master Roshi, Oolong and Yajirobe."

Yamcha crossed his arms and glared at the fiery, temperamental woman before him. 'Oh yeah,' he thought, 'she won't be able to get out of this one!'

"You failed to mention one person of the male sex. He happens to be living with you at Capsule corp. And you spend a lot more time with him then you do with me." Yamcha gave Bulma a triumphant grin while he waited to hear her explanation.

"What, my dog Muffin? If that's all the better you can come up with Yamcha…. Well, let's just say that I'm not surprised by your lack of creativity." Bulma gave him her best "miss innocent" look as she turned and started to head towards her waiting vehicle. She couldn't wait to get the hell out of there.

"God Bulma, sometimes you can be so obtuse! I'm not talking about your stupid dog. What about Mr. Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta? I'm not an idiot. You build the guy a gravity training room and cook for him, and do what ever else the arrogant prick asks. Obviously, something more then friendship is going on there."

Bulma stared at him before responding.

"Me and Vegeta? Very funny. Give me a flipping break. If you would ever come around, which you never do because you're too lazy to do any actual training and your stupid baseball career is all that you care about, you would realize that I can't stand the arrogant jerk. He's obnoxious and treats me like I'm some sort of personal slave. The only reason I put up with him is because we need his fighting power to defeat the Androids that are going to show up in two years. You really have a lot of nerve to try and pull that crap with me, Yamcha. And for all that stuff about me not spending time with you, it isn't from a lack of trying. Take today for instance. I practically begged you to go out for lunch with me, and you told me you were busy. I've been trying to go on a date with you for weeks, but something conveniently comes up right before we're supposed to go out. What kind of relationship is that? I think it's been over between us for months, but I've been too afraid to break it off. I'm 27 years old after all, and I'm not getting any younger. But that doesn't mean that I have to keep getting blown off and cheated on by the only guy I've ever called boyfriend. You have really hurt me Yamcha, and if you still can't see it, then you aren't even worth the effort I've put into our relationship for the last ten years. Dr. Laura was right when she said it was time to call it quits if you don't have a ring within three years of dating. And quite frankly, even if you bent down and professed your undying love for me and asked me to marry you, I would have to say no. If I can't trust you not to stray now, how could I trust you not to stray once we were married? Goodbye Yamcha." And with that, she turned on her heels and walked as quickly as she could to her car without looking back

This time, she found her keys with no trouble, and tried to ignore the tightness behind her eyes. Lord, she was pathetic, crying over the jerk. She could and would do better. She pulled out of the parking lot and headed back towards Capsule Corp. Working on a new science project always helped her to vent her frustration and anger into a useful fashion.

_What do you think? Read and review, but no flames please. Chapter 2 is almost done and will be up soon._


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the encouraging reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!_

_Disclaimer: And as always, I did not invent DBZ or any of its characters._

_Chapter 2_

Driving home was uneventful and it gave time for Bulma to reflect on what had happened today between her and Yamcha

"I'm single again," she said out loud to herself as she pulled to a stop in front of a red light. "I haven't been single for so long, I don't even know what to do with myself. I mean, I was a stupid kid when I started dating Yamcha. I should have known he wouldn't turn out to be quality marriage material. He was a desert bandit, for Kami's sake!" She was so busy berating herself, she didn't notice the light had turned green until someone behind her honked his horn and told her to get her butt moving, in not so nice words. Bulma, who was already is a foul mood, turned around and started to yell at the offending person, who just so happened to be a short balding business man who didn't have time for games.

"What the heck is your problem, jerk?" Bulma shrieked, as she stuck her head out the window and waved her fist at him. "The light _just turned GREEN!_ "

"Well, if it just turned green, then why is your pretty little ass still sitting at the light? GET MOVING YOU BLUE HAIRED BIMBO OR I'LL MOVE YOU MYSELF, UNDERSTAND???" Yelled the man, whose face had turned red and had little veins sticking out on his forehead.

In the back of her mind, Bulma thought he reminded her of Vegeta when he was beyond angry at having his orders disobeyed. Arrogant jerk. Just thinking about him made her angry, and clouded her reasoning so that she decided to keep fighting with the bald guy.

"Hey Baldy, just try and move me you big idiot! I'll move when I'm good and ready!" By now, other people were in line behind the bald man, and they were starting to get pissed off as well. Someone yelled from three cars back.

"Sweetheart, you've sat here so long, the light has turned red again, and we all want to get home. So do you think you could find another place to argue besides at a stoplight?"

Bulma yelled back, "I'll argue were ever I damn well please. I'm an independent woman and I don't need to listen to any man telling me what to do!" Bulma turned back to Mr. Baldy and gave him one of her trademark ice blue glares, daring him to continue with their argument. This further enraged the man who was sick of putting up with her pissed off attitude. And besides that, the light had turned green yet again, and she seemed to be in no hurry to move out of the intersection.

"Hey bi-atch! The light's green again! GET YOUR F#?$& ASS MOVING!"

"No way, jerk! All you men are the same. You think you can walk all over women without facing the consequences. Well, deal with it! I'm in a pissed off mood, and I plan on sitting here until I cool off, got it mister?" With that, she turned her head forward so that she was facing the intersection.

That did it for him. He wasn't going to sit here and waste time arguing with an idiot woman who wouldn't get out of the way. He was beyond enraged, and he wasn't thinking too clearly. All he wanted was to get home to his wife so he could enjoy a good dinner, and relax in front of the television. Was that too much to ask for? He didn't think so. The other people behind him were blaring their horns at him and the dumb broad, which irritated him further. If she wouldn't move, he would push her out of the way. He had good insurance on his car. He began to rev up the engine of his SUV, and backed up as far as he could without hitting the car behind him, which wasn't very far. By this time, the light had turned red again. But he didn't care. He wanted her out of the way!

Bulma turned and looked in her rear view mirror. She saw him backing up his monster SUV. 'What an idiot. Pu-lease! Like he's going to be able to maneuver around me with that big tank. Stupid jerk!' She turned back to the highway and started humming to herself. Humming always seemed to work to calm her mind when she was angry, which happened to be an almost continual state since she had invited Vegeta to stay at Capsule Corp. with her and her parents. Now that had been a stupid idea. What had she been thinking? Lost in her thoughts, her eyes strayed back to her rear view mirror just in time to see the monster SUV power into her rear end. Bulma screamed as her car vaulted forward into oncoming traffic. She had no time to think or even react. The last thing she thought was how men really sucked and that she didn't want to die just yet.

Meanwhile, back at Capsule Corp… 

Vegeta had cranked up the gravity to 475 in his gravity room. He had spent the morning warming up with push-ups, sit ups, jumping jacks and jogging. He was now ready to push himself into Ki energy exercises and katas. His stomach rumbled loudly, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since early this morning. But he ignored the annoying sensation as best he could, not allowing himself to show any sort of weakness until he absolutely had to eat. Besides that, if he waited a bit longer, he wouldn't have to deal with Dr. Briefs or his bimbo wife. Now there was a woman who scared him! She was old enough to be his mother, and she acted like a nitwit with a crush….on him! He shuddered at the thought, but kept up with his exercises, not slowing down for even an instance. He had to turn Super Saiyan! If a third class baka could turn Super Saiyan, surely he, the Prince of all Saiyans could as well! In fact, it was inconceivable that a third class warrior who couldn't even remember his Saiyan heritage had become one at all, while he was still struggling to figure out how to do it.

"Kakarot! I will become a Super Saiyan, and then we will see who is the strongest!" He just had to figure out the secret, and keep his mind on his training and his ultimate goal. He walked to the control panel to activate the practice bots that Dr. Briefs and his foolish daughter had modified for his use. He then started to power up, and practiced dodging the energy blasts that the robots emitted at him. He was doing fairly well; dodging and attacking the robots with more ease then would have been possible a few days ago. He really was getting stronger, and he supposed he had to give some credit to Dr. Briefs and the other irritating woman that lived in this household. As he was dodging and countering a stray energy blast, his thoughts absently turned to the Woman. Bulma. She was an enigma to him. Everyone on this pathetic mud ball was afraid of him, and with good reason. He had originally come here to collect the dragon balls in order to wish for immortality, and once that was done, he was going to destroy the planet that Kakarot should have purged as a child. Instead, his future had taken a turn for the worse after his humiliating defeat by that low class idiot Saiyan. Now he lived here and had to put up with all of these offending weaklings who he could send into the next dimension with a flick of his little finger. And the only one who dared to talk back to him was that irritating woman! She was weak, not even worth his time. Yet since the day he accidentally blew up the gravity room and she had nursed him back to health, he couldn't get her out of his head! It wasn't that he was attracted to her. He didn't even like her! But he couldn't figure her out. She was smart enough to help design and fix his gravity room alongside her father, but stupid enough to cross him, the Prince of Saiyans. She acted like she couldn't stand him, which was fine by him, but nursed him somewhat back to health, and then had the audacity to nag at him because he wanted to get back to training, all because she didn't think he was healthy enough. She was going out with a moron and couldn't figure out that the guy was using her. And the signals she gave off to him! He snorted disdainfully. If she weren't already mated to the retard, he'd think that she was interested in him! But he wasn't interested in her. Not in the _least_!

With his thoughts thus occupied, Vegeta let his guard down. Before he knew it, a stray energy blast hit him in the back, which caused him to fall to the floor of the gravity room before he could counter the attack. He rolled out of the way of another oncoming energy attack and countered it with one of his own. He then told the computer in the gravity room to turn off the training sequence. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling. His head hurt, as he hadn't shielded it very well from the fall.

"Blast that infernal woman!" He shouted at the ceiling. He pounded his fists into the ground of the gravity room, causing cracks to run along the length of the floor. He also blasted the offending attack bot that had managed to hit him with the energy blast, melting it and causing it to become useless. He then stood up slowly, and rubbed the spot on his forehead that had connected with the gravity room floor. "She won't stay out of my head, and she is causing me to loose concentration while I am practicing! I won't be made out to be a weakling! I won't!" he yelled out in frustration. He walked to the entrance of the room, and picked up the melted bot. She would have to fix the bot and the new cracks in the floor he had just created. Smirking, Vegeta thought of how pissed off Bulma would be that he had melted yet another bot and ruined the floor of the gravity room at the same time. Another late night for her, cutting into her precious social life. Like he cared anyway. His stomach suddenly growled too loud for him to ignore. He had been in here practicing since the break of dawn. Absently rubbing his stomach, he decided to head towards the kitchen in search of food. He needed sustenance, as much as he disliked admitting that, even to himself. Hopefully, the blonde bimbo would be somewhere besides the kitchen or the grounds surrounding the gravity room. He opened up the entrance to the gravity room, and headed outside into the bright sunlight.

So far so good. No one seemed to be around the compound at this time of the day, and the less weaklings he had to deal with, the less chance he would have to blast someone to the next dimension for getting in his way. In all honesty, Vegeta despised the fact that such an inferior species didn't have the presence of mind to bow before him and cater to his every need. He was a Prince, yet everyone, especially that annoying blue haired tart, treated him as though he were just an ordinary Earthling. 'If only they knew how much they are indebted to me! If it weren't for me training every day to attain the Legendary, were would these idiot humans be when the Androids show up? Well, I suppose they have Kakarot and the Namek, but Kakarot's an idiot with no presence of mind to plot out battle strategies, and the Namek, though strong, is no where near as powerful as I am!' Vegeta carefully maneuvered across the lawn to the outside door that led to the kitchen. The last thing he wanted was to run into the bimbo. He was still smarting about his loss of concentration and his head was aching from the blow it had received in the gravity room. And she was one of the few people he couldn't blast into oblivion for getting in his way. If he killed her, he wouldn't have a place to stay, and training facility to work in, plenty of food to eat, and a staff that cowered before him. (At least, he would like for the staff to cower before him!). And he wouldn't have that woman to irritate.

"Ugh, why can't I get her out of my head? I don't want to irritate her. She's an idiot along with everyone else on this inferior world!" Vegeta muttered to himself, as he opened the door to the kitchen.

Mercifully, the kitchen was empty, which was a rare and pleasant occasion as far as Vegeta was concerned. Usually, he had to contend with one of the Briefs, and more often than not, it was Mrs. Briefs who seemed to spend the most time around the kitchen. He was still trying to figure out if that was a coincidence or a premeditated occurrence, but lately, he was beginning to believe it was the later. He flopped himself down into an obliging chair and closed his eyes to relax for a moment. His muscles were still tense from his training, and his head was bothering him. Usually, a headache was a small thing for him. He had sustained much greater injuries without letting the pain get to him. But he was still pissed at his lack of concentration due to his strange fixation on Bulma. He sat concentrating, trying to figure out why thoughts of her were starting to invade his mind at the most inopportune times.

"She doesn't respect me the way she should! I am letting her get under my skin, and for what, because she doesn't treat me like Saiyan royalty? If it wasn't for the fact that she is providing housing for me, which she should, I would kill her and be rid of her!" Thinking he had done a good enough job of convincing himself of her worthlessness, Vegeta decided to pay attention to his stomach, which rumbled loud enough to shake the ugly rooster bric-a-brac that Mrs. Briefs had strewn all over the kitchen in every nook and cranny she could get her demented hands on. The whole kitchen arrangement made Vegeta shudder. If it weren't for the fact that the food was stored here, he'd vaporize the whole hideous room and be done with it. But he supposed he would have to compromise on that issue. But seriously, whoever had given her permission to decorate in here should be pulverized.

He stood up, stretched, and marched straight for the waiting refrigerator. He mentally counted the days in his head. Yesterday, the food supply seemed to have diminished substantially, so today should be the day that the Briefs had it restocked with plenty of capsules filled with food for him. Since it was later in the afternoon then he usually came in and ate, he was sure that the fridge should be restocked, and he wouldn't have to deal with the endless prattle that ensued when all the Briefs got together for a meal. He didn't mind preparing his own food once in a while. He was used to having to provide for himself when he worked as Frieza's own personal purging slave. He shuddered at that memory. If worse came too worse, he could always eat the food uncooked. He was, after all, a Saiyan, and Saiyans could eat almost anything. But Vegeta was in for an unpleasant and unwelcome surprise as he pulled the fridge open.

"Where is all of my FOOD!" he roared in anger. The fridge was almost completely empty, which meant that Mrs. Briefs had either forgotten to go shopping, or she had decided to go later in the day. All of this angered Vegeta, as he was very, _very_ hungry. He was a grouch when he was in a normal state of mind, but a hungry Vegeta who was still angry about his morning training session and his sore head was someone that no one, not even Goku, would be brave enough to deal with!

In a fit of rage, he blasted the refrigerator to smithereens, along with half of the kitchen. This helped to calm down some of his rage and frustration. Looking around the half-demolished kitchen and smoking ruins of what had once been the refrigerator, Vegeta smirked at his handiwork.

"Humph. At least I got rid of most of the ugly decorating job. But now I need a new refrigerator, along with food. It is beneath my dignity to search out this moronic place for the Briefs, but it's one more task I can leave for the Woman! Hah!" With his arms crossed in their usual fashion, Vegeta picked his way through the ruined kitchen and made his way towards one of the wall communicators that were installed through out Capsule Corporation. He still felt it was beneath him to talk to one of the weak humans who operated the switchboard, but he wasn't about to go _looking_ for the Briefs by himself. He pressed the button that opened up a communication line with the main desk in the complex.

"Capsule Corporation. This is Keiko, how may I help you?" asked a timid looking receptionist.

"You can help me by telling me where the idiots that own this ridiculous corporation may be found. And you will do it quickly, otherwise you will find yourself in the Next Dimension!" Vegeta replied in his haughtiest and most intimidating manner.

"Uh, I am sorry Sir, but that is confidential material, and only those who are within the Brief's family are allowed that information," the receptionist squeaked out. Honestly, he was the freakiest looking person she had ever seen, and she didn't like being given death threats over the communication system. She was one second from having his call traced and calling security to deal with him when he spoke up again. And the look he gave her was one that would inspire terror in any person! She swallowed audibly as she listened to his next statement.

"You dare disobey my orders, impudent whelp! I am Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans, and no weakling has the right to gainsay my orders. If you must know, as you should already know, I am living here with the Briefs' permission. Now tell me where they are, or else I will blow up the communications department, including your reception area!"

Vegeta…She had heard about him. There were lots of rumors floating around, but mainly they just said he was an extended house guest from the time Ms. Bulma had shown up with a bunch of strange looking green people. She had also heard he had an extremely short temper, and he had possibly killed a few grounds people for getting in his way. She used to doubt that story, but with him glaring daggers at her, she wasn't so sure. So she wisely decided to give him the information he demanded.

"Uhhh. I am sorry to inform you that none of the Briefs are here in the compound at present. Both Dr. Briefs and his wife departed this morning for an extended cruise, and Miss Bulma left a few hours ago to go shopping. At present, I do not know where she is at or when she will return. I am sorry sir, truly I am!" She was shaking, knowing that he was most displeased with her answer. She could see her life flashing before her eyes, when suddenly the communication link went dead. She sighed in relief. Maybe we wasn't going to come and kill her after all.

Meanwhile, Vegeta glared at the communication line that he had just vaporized. Just his luck that everyone was gone. That left him with no option but to find that infernal Woman. He clenched his fists in anger, and blasted off through the remains of the ruined kitchen, compliments of himself. He scoured the streets, trying to pick up on her very weak Ki signature. He did not have time for this. When he got his hands on her, she would know the wrath of Vegeta! And she would learn the courtesy and respect his rank deserved. No more letting her get in the last word or tell him what to do. Thinking these things further added fuel to the fire burning within Vegeta's mind. He was so consumed with his angry thoughts, he almost missed the commotion at one of the human devices known as a stoplight. Curious, he swooped in for a closer look when he registered that the blue haired woman in the first car was none other than Bulma. He smirked when he saw the car behind her back up. 'Stupid woman. She still hasn't figured out that is not intelligent to talk back to a member of the male species.' He thought to himself. But then he noticed that the car was revving up and before he could blink, it smashed into Bulma's much smaller vehicle, causing it to vault into oncoming traffic.

Without thinking except for the fact that his meal ticket was about to be deposed of, Vegeta shot in the direction of Bulma's car and the monster SUV that had pushed her into traffic.

_Another Chapter done! Does Vegeta rescue Bulma, and what ensues if he gets his hands on her and she is still alive? To find out, you'll have to wait for the next chapter!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's the next installment! And I don't own DBZ or the characters even though I wish I did!_

_P.S. Vegeta does think Bulma is attractive in this story-he's just telling her she's ugly because he likes making her angry and because he doesn't want to admit where his thoughts have been straying lately! He is also in denial. Poor Veggie!_

_Chapter 3_

Bulma heard the unmistakable sound of metal on metal as her car was catapulted into oncoming traffic. She knew she was going to die, and for what? Because she had pissed off a bald jerk in a monster SUV? It just wasn't fair!

'Oh Kami! What did I do to deserve this?' Bulma thought to herself as images of her life flashed before her eyes. Was she going to end up in HFIL? She'd heard from Goku that it definitely wasn't the best place to end up, but she didn't think her life had been that bad! Oh sure, she had made some selfish decisions, and she wasn't always the bravest of people, but that didn't mean she had to spend an eternity suffering in misery. So intent was Bulma on her thoughts, the fact that she felt no pain and that her limbs were still intact hadn't registered in her mind yet. When these thoughts did occur to her, she also realized that she could feel the wind on her body, and that the sound of the traffic around her had become strangely silent. She also felt something warm and tight around her midsection. In fact, the sensations she was feeling were far from the unpleasantness she thought that she would receive in HFIL.

"Maybe I made it to heaven?" Bulma asked out loud. But she still kept her eyes shut, in case she was wrong. She wasn't ready to face King Yemma's demon people just yet, thank you very much! Instead, she decided to focus on the positives of her situation. Maybe she was in some sort of time vortex for dead people and she was in a cleansing wind meant to purify her soul. Or maybe she didn't have a body and was floating around in a void. 'Well, that's not a very pleasant thought! I like my perfect body, and I don't want to give it up!' thought Bulma, as she tried to imagine her life without a body. She wouldn't be able to work on inventions or science projects for Capsule Corporation. She wouldn't be able to help her friends hunt down dragon balls if the need arose because she wouldn't have hands to pick them up with. Gosh, she wouldn't be able to eat, or pet her dog Muffin, and most importantly, she wouldn't be able kiss and snuggle with… 'Yeah right. Even if I had I body, I wouldn't be getting any action!' thought Bulma, yet again realizing that she was single, thanks to dumb Yamcha, and she was most likely dead, thanks to Mr. Baldy and his stupid monster SUV! 'Kami!' thought Bulma, 'I should have just stayed in bed this morning!'

Suddenly, Bulma's train of thought was interrupted by the smell of something really, really rank. She stiffened up and started to gag as the brisk breeze brought a horrid stench to her delicate nostrils.

"Oh my God! What **_is_** that awful smell? Oh Kami, maybe I really am in HFIL! I mean, who would force anyone to smell that horrid stench unless it was some sort of punishment!" Bulma truly felt like she was about to throw up her cookies. Besides that, she was now totally convinced that the guy in the monster SUV had sent her to the land where the sun didn't shine. So, she was more than a bit shocked when a menacing voice spoke into her ear.

"Quiet Woman, or else I'll make your dream of visiting HFIL a reality. Besides, I think you'd fit in perfectly!"

"V-Vegeta?"

"Of course, Baka! Who else would rescue you from your own stupidity?" Gods, the woman was as dumb as rock sometimes and that wasn't saying much! He listened to her as she let out a squeak of surprise, and almost started to laugh at her because she looked ridiculous with her ripped clothing, messed up hair and streaky makeup. Along with that was the stupid surprised expression she had on her face. With her eyes closed, she sort of reminded him of a very ugly fish. He waited to see her reaction when she put two and two together about who had rescued her from imminent death. Now he had her! She would owe him big time for this, and he would savor every moment of her discomfort. He smiled inwardly as he waited patiently for her next move.

Bulma decided to slowly open her eyes. She let out another stunned yelp of surprise as she took in her surroundings. Vegeta wasn't kidding when he had said he could make her dream of visiting HFIL a reality. They were thousands of feet up in the air, and the only thing separating Bulma from falling to her death were the two strong arms of the last man she wanted to deal with considering how her day started out and what direction it was headed in. I mean, she had broken up with her long time boyfriend and than had almost been killed by a demented bald man who made Vegeta seem almost nice, the keyword being almost. Then there was Vegeta…and herself. Anytime the two of them were alone for more than a few minutes, it was inevitable that an argument would ensue. He was the most pig-headed, obstinate, proud, spiteful and inconsiderate person she knew, besides Yamcha. And Yamcha was mostly inconsiderate _and_ pig headed. She didn't know what to say.

"Humph. Nothing to say? Are you too terrified to say anything, or are you really at a loss for words? It would certainly be a first if you were." sneered Vegeta. He knew that comment would jerk her back into reality. If there was anything he had learned about Bulma in the brief time that he had been living in the same compound as her, it was the fact that she detested not having the last word. This was something that they both shared in common, creating the majority of the arguments that they hashed out between each other.

"No, you big jerk! I am not at a loss for words! I just don't want to breathe in the poisonous fumes that your short, sweaty body is producing at the moment! Haven't you learned yet about the value of taking a bath? You reek!" Bulma tried to move one of her arms so she could pinch her nose, but Vegeta only tightened his grip on her, making it impossible for her to move. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was doing it on purpose, especially since his armpits seemed to be angled directly on either side of her head. For being a Saiyan prince, he was such a disgusting pig!

"Be quiet! I'd like some peace and quiet on the trip back to your hovel! And stop moving around, you idiot! Unless you really are in a hurry to end your pathetic life. I can be _very_ obliging when the mood strikes me." Just to prove his point, Vegeta loosened his tight grip around her middle, causing her to slip a miniscule amount. It had the desired comical effect of her pinwheeling her arms and closing her eyes. She also let out a terrified shriek, and then stopped suddenly when she realized that it was taking her a very long time to impact with the hard earth below them.

"_Vegeta! You are such an **ASSHOLE!**_ I can't believe you!"

"Will you just shut up Woman? It's the least you could do, considering I just saved your life. Your voice is rather grating after a while!" Vegeta smirked. He was going to enjoy lording over the fact that he had saved her life, as he had never made a point to save anyone's life before this. In fact he quit enjoyed killing people. And at this moment, she would be powerless to stop him if he decided to end her pathetic life. She couldn't fly, so it would be all too easy to let her slip from his fingers and watch her body explode when it hit the ground. Not that he planned on doing that. He'd had plenty of experience lording over people when he was a galactic terrorist for Frieza, but never had he had someone owe their life to him. He had big plans for her when they got back, oh yes! She was _completely_ in his power, which meant he could get her to do all the things she hated doing for him. He almost couldn't wait to get back to Capsule Corporation. If he hadn't been holding on to her body, he would have rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Instead, he settled for letting out a sinister chuckle as his plan unfolded in his head.

"Oooh, will you stop with that obnoxious laugh? It's bad enough that you stink like a dung heap, but your freaky laugh is enough to drive anyone nuts!"

"Be **_QUIET!_**" Vegeta roared into Bulma's ear."Or don't you know the meaning of the word? If you want to stay in the world of the living, then you will do as _I_ say, understand?"

"Oh, can it Vegeta! You wouldn't kill me. You just saved my life, so why go to the trouble of ending it, when you obviously took the time to save it?" Which was starting to puzzle Bulma. She knew Vegeta had a temper, and as far as she had seen of him both on Namek and then here on Earth, he had never hesitated killing anyone. For that matter, she had never seen him save anyone either. The only time he seemed to be benevolent was when he wanted something or if it fit into his personal schemes for greatness. 'Where does that leave me? Ugh, he's probably got some twisted plot concerning me in his ugly little head. I wonder what he's up to?' Bulma though furiously. She decided to cut to the chase and ignore his stupid order to be quiet. She hadn't let that bald guy tell her what to do, and she wasn't going let Vegeta tell her what to do either! She wanted to find out his reasoning and she knew it wasn't a coincidence that he had been there to get her out of trouble in the nick of time.

"Hey Vegeta! Why exactly did you save me? I mean, there's no love between the two of us! And why are you taking so long to get to Capsule Corporation? I was only about two blocks from home at the stoplight. We should have been their ages ago."

"My reasoning is none of _your_ concern. Suffice it to say I do have my reasons, and when I feel the time is convenient for you to know, you will. Until that moment, you can try to listen to orders from me once and while. I specifically remember telling…"

"Yeah, you told me to be quiet and shut up, and blah, blah, blah! I get it Vegeta. Now it's _your_ turn to understand something. I'm sick of being walked over by men! You guys all think you're something special, when in fact, the only difference between you and me is that you have something dangling between your legs and I don't! I've been in a bad mood since I ran into that ass wipe Yamcha this afternoon. I then had a bald guy try to kill me and now, _I_ have to deal with _you_, mister high and mighty Prince! I showed Yamcha up and I didn't back down from Mr. Baldy, and I am **_not, _**repeat **_not_** going do what ever it is you tell me to do just because it's convenient for you! Got it, Mister?" Bulma tried to maneuver so she could look at Vegeta's reaction from her ultimatum. The guy really had a stick up his ass when it came to people giving him orders. She figured he must be seething with anger from her statement, but she really didn't care. He was just another sucky male like every other guy she had known. Well, except for Goku, but he was a special case. Of course, Vegeta wouldn't let up on his grip and squirm and try as she might, he wasn't going to allow her the pleasure of looking at his angry face.

"Woman, you really do have a death wish don't you? What's the matter? Things not going right in your life? Well, I've got news for you, life stinks the majority of the time, and your petty problems and concerns mean nothing to me." Vegeta uttered this statement in a surpassingly calm tone of voice. Usually, when she talked back to him, they got into a screaming match with him threatening to blow something up or kill someone around Capsule Corp.

"Well I really don't care what you think Vegeta. I'm still not going to do whatever you tell me to do. I'm not your slave. If fact, I think we've had this same exact argument like a bazillion times already. So let's save ourselves some grief and move on. You still haven't answered me as to why it's taking you an eternity to fly us back to Capsule Corporation. Or do you enjoy holding my body? I am pretty good looking, if I do say so myself!"

"Huh, you're pretty ugly, in my opinion! I've seen better looking dead aliens than you!"

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"Who said life was fair? I'm just curing you of the notion that I find you attractive in any way, shape or form. Your dog is better looking than you, and I find the mutt to be one of the most pathetic, ugly creatures I have ever come across. Someone should put it out of its misery. In fact, I'll do that as soon as we arrive!"

"Oooh, Vegeta! If you lay a hand on my dog when we get back, if we ever get back, I'll call Goku up, have him turn Super Saiyan, and then watch as you kiss your ass good-bye! Got it Mister?" 'Hmmm,' she thought, 'let him try and attack my dog. What a moron! He keeps forgetting that Son and me go way back. I know he'd do it if I asked him to. At least I think he would.'

"Some plan. Only a weakling like you would be foolish enough to cower behind the strength of a low class idiot like Kakarot. He wouldn't hurt me because he's at least smart enough to know that I am needed to defeat the androids. Anyway, why would I waste my time trying to kill your pathetic dog? Really Woman, you amaze me with your idiocy." 'Ha,' Vegeta thought. He could feel her body tense up with the anger of being made out to be a fool. 'The one thing I can say about her is that she has spunk.' Vegeta thought. He then tried to erase the errant thought from his head. 'I don't like her, I despise her, she is weak and I am strong!' Vegeta repeated the mantra in his head, trying to let her not get to him. Bulma started squirming in his arms again, interrupting his train of thought.

"Fine Vegeta, you win this round. But could you please hurry up about getting home? My legs and arms feel like they're about to fall off, and your awful body odor is making me feel nauseous. I really am starting to think you have some sick sort of perversion for me, since it's taking you _sooooo_ long to fly a teeny weenie distance."

"I do not have some sort of perversion for you! I already told you I think you're ugly. What more do I need to do to convince you of that fact? I simply like flying around aimlessly because I know it irritates you! And as for my _body odor_, as you put it, if it wasn't for the fact that I had to go looking for you, I would have taken a shower!" The truth was, he didn't know why he was taking so long to fly home. He had forgotten about how hungry he was, and she did feel… 'No way! I am not going to allow my thoughts to go in that direction. She is ugly, and she means nothing to me!' Gods, what was happening to his mind? He shook his head, trying to clear it of the annoying thoughts that kept popping up concerning her. He could squarely put the blame for his accident in the gravity room on her doorstep, along with flying aimlessly around for the past twenty minutes. She was starting to drive him insane!

"Whatever! Just try convincing yourself of that fact. Everyone else thinks I'm cute. I could have a date with any guy I wanted too, and that's the truth. You're just not normal. I think Frieza did a pretty good number on you! Humph!" Bulma stuck her nose up in the air, and then coughed when she caught another whiff of Ode de Toilette, Vegeta style.

Vegeta growled at her. "Think what you want. I don't have to listen to your foolish conjectures. At any rate, get ready to land. We are here!" With that, Vegeta did a nosedive for the Capsule Corp. grounds, making sure his landing was as wild as possible. He screeched to a halt mere inches from the ground, and then flipped his body around so fast, it made Bulma feel even more wretched than before. He unceremoniously dumped her out of his arms, watching as she crumpled into an ungraceful heap on the ground with a smirk on his face. He then proceeded to glare at her as she tried to stand up on her shaky legs.

"A little help would be appreciated, Vegeta! I mean, you're the reason my legs fell asleep. All because you took your sweet ass time getting us back here to Capsule Corp!"

Vegeta glared at her with his arms crossed in their usual fashion. "Huh. You have a lot of nerve telling me what to do! I don't take orders from weaklings, especially ones whose lives I just saved!"

"Oh pu-lease Vegeta! Don't get all self-righteous with me. You saved me for whatever sick twisted plan you have in your head that requires my help. It isn't because you care about me in the least!" With that she finished standing up, brushed off her ruined clothing, and tried to walk across the grounds with as much dignity as she could muster. Thinking he could tell her what to do just because he saved her life. 'It's just like a man to be like that, especially one as testosterone driven as Vegeta. I must have been nuts having dreams of him before he showed up from outer space. No wonder Yamcha used Vegeta as an excuse for his cheating ways! Ooohh, I'm not going to think about those two anymore!' She reached the door to kitchen entrance when she noticed that Vegeta was still looking at her. But instead of the glare he had been giving her, his face had taken on a decided look of amusement.

"What's so funny Vegeta? Do you get a kick out of smirking at people because they look like they've gone through Hell? Well, just keep smirking, bucko! I don't care!"

"If you don't care, than why are you taking the time to point out my behavior? Honestly Woman, you can't fool me with your reasoning." He let out a snort of disdain, emphasizing his apparent disgust for her.

Bulma shook her head, and reached for the door. She opened it and walked into the kitchen, annoyed that Vegeta was still standing in the yard smirking at her. He was such a rude jerk off!

Vegeta waited for the reaction he knew he was going to get, and he didn't have to wait long. Before he could count to five, the most hideous shriek he had ever heard blasted out through the kitchen entrance, which Bulma had left conveniently open.

"**_VVVVVVEEEEGGGEEEETTTTAAAAA!"_**

The Saiyan Prince smirked, and slowly made his way to the kitchen where he was sure a very enraged Bulma would be standing waiting to confront him. He could hardly wait!

_What will Bulma's reaction be when our lovely Prince enters the scene of destruction he left behind? And why does he seem excited about another confrontation with Bulma? To find out what ensues, you'll have to wait for the next installment. Please R&R!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry this took a while! I had a really hard time writing this chapter. I hope you like it!_

_Disclaimer: I didn't create DBZ or any of the characters. Well, except for Muffin!_

_Chapter 4_

"**_VVVVVVEEEEGGGEEEETTTTAAAAA!!!!!!"_** Bulma shrieked at the top of her lungs. No wonder he had been smirking at her with that self-satisfied wicked look on his weaseley, good for nothing, ugly, balding head of his. If she could have, Bulma would have crumpled into a ball and started weeping in the middle of what had once been her mother's beautiful kitchen. The state of the art refrigerator had been reduced to a melted pile of slag, the walls surrounding it had been scorched black, and all of her mother's favorite rooster pieces (of which Bulma secretly thought were ugly) had been obliterated. To top it all off, there was now a gigantic hole in the ceiling were Vegeta had blasted off after he had damaged the kitchen in what must have been a spectacular temper tantrum. And it was that entire dickhead Vegeta's fault! 'Why can't he just behave normally? Why does he have to act like the world revolves around him? I am _sooooo_ tired of him and _his_ cranky ass attitude!' Bulma thought. But she had to be strong. The first thing Vegeta would expect would be for her to act like a quivering ball of Jell-O. Not if she could help it! She was going to be strong! Her conviction to never allow another male to walk all over her was going to start today with Vegeta!

"_**VVVVVVEEEEGGGEEEETTTTAAAAA!!!!!!"**_

"What do _you_ want," Vegeta asked as he casually stepped into the doorway of the ruined kitchen, compliments of himself. He smirked at Bulma, who, startled by his quiet appearance behind her, let out a yet another muffled shriek. He wanted to laugh she looked so pathetic. Her face was the color of a tomato, not at all attractive in his opinion, and it was obvious she was trying to reign in her emotions and was having a difficult time doing so. Vegeta crossed his arms and picked his way across the rubble that had fallen from the ceiling when he had taken off in a fit of rage over not having any food to eat. He stood before her with the expression of someone that liked making people miserable and was enjoying the scene that was playing out before him. "Well Woman, are you going to stand there in silence or say whatever it was that was so important you had to scream my name loud enough for the entire city to hear? Hurry up! I don't have all day."

"That is _it_ Vegeta! _You_ don't have all day? Well I'm sorry! I guess I forgot about all the time you waste in your gravity room!" Bulma spat out sarcastically. She looked at Vegeta and was pleased to see he wasn't as immune to her taunting as he was trying to make himself out to be. "Well, let me remind you that the world does not …._revolve_…**_around_** ….**_YOU_**! Newsflash jerk! I have a life too, and I don't think that I should have to be cleaning up your messes, Vegeta!"

"Humph! That's your _job_ Woman! You knew what I was like when you invited me to live here. I have standards, and I expect to be treated in the manner I am accustomed to. And yet, you have not had the common sense to learn how it should be. Since the day I returned from outer space after looking for that clown Kakarot, you have persisted with the illusion that you and I are equals. Well, we are not, and I am going to disabuse you of the notion that we are! I am the man, you are the woman. You clean up after me, and in return, I protect you, your pathetic family, and this pile of rubble you call Earth from imminent danger!" He could see the fire burning in her eyes after his last few comments. 'Interesting,' Vegeta thought, 'for someone with such a puny power level, she has more fire than most warriors I have met on the field of battle!' Of course, Vegeta tried yet again to squash his thought of admiration towards Bulma before it became a part of his sub-conscious. And as before, he failed miserably.

"I'm sorry Vegeta, but last time I checked you and I aren't married. I would only _ever_ pick up after a man if he had a ring on his finger that matched mine, and even then it would be a chance coincidence! And don't try to pulling that 'I'm protecting you from danger' bullshit act, either. Everyone _knows_ that you're protecting the Earth for your own selfish reasons, not because you actually like it here! And, for the absolute _last and final_ _time_, I am **not** your servant, so get over it! In case you haven't noticed, we have work bots that perform menial tasks. So go program one to clean up after yourself! Or aren't you smart enough to figure out how to do it?"

When Vegeta just glared at her, Bulma continued on and moved in so she was mere inches from the sweaty Prince of all Saiyans. With her hands on her hips, she stuck her nose up at him and returned his irritated expression.

"It is not _my_ responsibility to pick up after you! And since when was it okay to blast things just because you don't get your way? You have the manners of a sociopathic toddler, not a full-grown man! Did you even think about what would happen to your meal schedule if you destroyed the place where your food comes from? Honestly! Where is your brain?" Bulma said as she pointed to his head. She then put her hands back on her hips and waited for the retort she knew was coming.

"What does my brain have to do with the supply of food? Foolish Woman! Your family provides me with food. If I choose to blast the refrigerator, you will just have to replace it. And as it was empty when I did so, I felt there was no real loss. I didn't destroy any "precious" lives so I don't see why you are making this into a huge calamity. In fact, I think you should be thanking me! Your idiot Mother's taste in kitchen adornment was absurd and now, no one will have to suffer every time they come in to find sustenance" Vegeta turned his head and motioned to the wall were the majority of Mrs. Briefs bric-a-brac had been displayed.

Bulma, who was now regretting moving in so close to Vegeta because of his awful B.O., tried to contain her temper, but it was just so hard when she had spent the entire day with jerks! 'Why can't I just have a normal life? Why do I get stuck with temperamental weirdoes?' She didn't want to back off because she knew that Vegeta would treat such a movement as a retreat, but she was seriously wishing she had a gas mask on. Holding your breath only worked as long as you weren't talking, and she still wasn't done giving Vegeta the tongue lashing he deserved.

"You think I should be thanking you for destroying the kitchen? That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard! No way Vegeta! **_You_** should be thanking **_me_** for being stupid enough to invite you here to stay with us. I mean, you have no money, no connections, and _nobody _likes you! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have that state of the art gravity chamber to train in. You wouldn't have all the food you can stuff into that ugly little face of yours, and you certainly wouldn't have a nice warm bed to sleep in. Well, I invited you here and I can also remove that same invitation." Bulma moved in even closer, wrinkled her nose, and tried to ignore the sour smell coming from the man standing before her. She knew what she was going to do, and it wasn't going to be pretty. She swallowed, and then got up the courage to continue on with her ultimatum. 'I just hope he doesn't blast me when he hears what's coming! Kami, help me get this over with!' Bulma pleaded. Putting her right pointer finger smack in the middle of Vegeta's chest, she looked at him straight in the eye. "Vegeta, I am sick and tired of you walking all over my family, acting like you own the place. Blowing up the kitchen was the last straw in a pile as large as a one ton haystack! You are no longer welcome here! Go find somewhere else to train." 'Not to mention feed and clothe you, and put up with your bad attitude!' Bulma thought furiously.

Vegeta stood speechless before her with a look of surprise plastered onto his face. He was in a state of shock, but not so much because of the ultimatum she had given him. He could ignore that if he wanted too. Besides which, she owed him for saving her life, and he wasn't about to let her forget that one! No, it was the fact that she stood before him and had the nerve (or pure stupidity) to look him straight in the eye and issue him a challenge. The only one to do that before her was Kakarot, and they had fought almost to the death. But she was so weak that fighting her would be laughable. And there was another side to this that made him decidedly uncomfortable. She was a female, and challenging a male in such a way was a sure sign that she was interested in….. No! She already had that idiot for a mate, and his thoughts were not going to continue going in that direction! 'She means nothing to me, and I can ignore her! Or,' he thought evilly, 'I can play her at her own game. Yes, that would be very interesting.' He smirked inwardly planning even more ways he could irritate _and_ confuse her. Ignoring her ultimatum, he licked his lips and looked at her the way a cat looks at an especially tasty mouse. Or in his case, the way a hungry lion looks at a healthy, fit antelope. It was the last thing that Bulma was expecting.

She watched Vegeta closely as he took in what she had just said. She held her breath both because of the smell and because of the anticipation that something dreadful was going to happen to her. She didn't really think he would kill her, since he _had _saved her life, but you never knew with Vegeta. But the look of…of lust in his eyes? That was the last thing she would have expected from him! Maybe she was imagining things. He had never acted like he was attracted to her before. Well, except for today, and he had made it clear he found her unattractive. She still couldn't figure out why it had taken him the better part of twenty minutes to make it back to Capsule Corporation though. But right now, the way he was looking at her at that exact moment was enough to creep the hell out of anyone, especially when he parted his lips and ran his pink tongue across them in a slow and sinuous manner. Maybe she wasn't imagining things after all! 'Yikes! I have to get out of here,' Bulma thought, abandoning her quest to not back down to Vegeta. Yes, sounding a retreat probably was the best thing she could do right now, although she had dreamed he was a good kisser. And she was single, so it wouldn't hurt….. 'Kami, what the hell am I thinking! He just blew up the kitchen and he makes me so angry I could rip my hair out, and I'm back to thinking about that stupid dream I had months ago? I really must be losing it!' As Bulma started to back up, the look on Vegeta's face turned from salacious interest to outright triumph. But the lust was still in his eyes as he moved forward.

"Going somewhere? How did you put it? I thought that you said you were "sick of being walked on by men," and yet here you are in the process of retreating after you gave me a direct challenge. If you don't want to be told what to do, why are you backing off after giving me that ridiculous ultimatum? I would almost take you for being afraid. Are you afraid, Bulma?" Vegeta almost purred out her name as he closed in on his retreating foe.

"A-a-a fffraid? What do you mean afraid? W-what do I have to be afraid of Vegeta? I just decided I needed a bit of f-f-fresh air!" Bulma returned as she continued to back away. This was not the direction she wanted to be going in with Vegeta right now, no way! And talk about lame. That excuse about fresh air! With the new sunroof in the kitchen compliments of Vegeta, a steady breeze had been blowing in the kitchen since their confrontation had begun. No. Bulma needed space away from the mighty Prince, and she needed it now. With those thoughts, Bulma turned on her heel and tried to run away through the door that Vegeta had left open when he had entered. But unfortunately for Bulma, Vegeta was extremely fast and she had the extremely bad luck to trip on a piece of ceiling tile that had been blasted away when Vegeta had exited through the roof. She found herself flying to the ground in slow motion until her face hit the floor and the wind was knocked out of her with a resounding "Oomph."

Vegeta, who had managed to cut off the retreating Bulma, watched as she tripped over the piece of debris and did a face plant onto the obliging floor. His eyes narrowed as he walked over to the prostrate woman.

"Woman, I am not in the mood to be playing ridiculous games with you!" When she didn't move, Vegeta felt a stirring of something strange in his chest. He had no idea what it was. It felt like his chest was constricting, like there was something squeezing it ever so slightly. Well, whatever it was, he didn't like it. Normally, he would have continued taunting her until she called her bluff, but there was something not quite right, either with himself or the situation. Something was niggling in the back of his mind. Shaking his head to rid himself of the annoying thoughts that continued to pester him, he stepped even closer to Bulma.

"Woman, I am warning you! If you do not want to feel the wrath of Vegeta, then I suggest you stop acting in this pathetic manner." Again, she didn't move, and again Vegeta was struck by that strange sensation. **_"WOMAN, DO YOU HEAR ME?"_** Vegeta roared out so loud that the entire building shook. Most people would have gotten up and run away from the horrendous noise coming out of Vegeta's mouth, but Bulma didn't even move an inch. Without thinking, Vegeta nudged Bulma roughly with the toe of his boot. Again, she didn't move. Thoroughly annoyed with the situation (and ever so slightly concerned, although he didn't realize it or would ever admit to it), Vegeta pushed Bulma over onto her back with his foot. Now along with her dirt streaked face, torn clothing, messed up hair and altogether disheveled appearance, Vegeta could see a large bruise beginning to form on Bulma's forehead.

Muttering to himself, Vegeta knelt down next to Bulma and decided that she really wasn't faking it. Quickly assessing her to make sure she hadn't injured herself too severely, Vegeta decided that she was just out cold and would most likely have a headache much worse than the one he had given himself in the Gravity Room earlier that afternoon. He shuddered at the thought of what she would be like when she woke up. She shrieked enough as it was. He didn't even want to think about how horrible she would be when she woke up.

"Stupid woman, you don't even have the sense to put up a Ki barrier! Now what am I supposed to do with you? I _should_ just let you lay here until you wake up, but I suppose if I do that, you'll interrupt my training with that idiot communication link and scream at me until I feel the urge to strangle you. Aaargh! I am hungry and in a foul mood, and now I have to figure out what to do with you because I have no way to contact the main desk of this idiotic corporation. You are turning me into a simple minded fool worse than Kakarot!" Venting his frustration at the unconscious Bulma was oddly satisfying to Vegeta, but it still didn't help him figure out what to do with her. He was seriously regretting blowing up the communicator in the kitchen. Now he would either have to physically search out the complex for someone brave enough to accompany him back here to the demolished kitchen or he would have to pick her up and take her someplace more appropriate to sleep. Weighing his options, Vegeta decided it would be more expedient for him if he just took her to her room and left her there to recover.

Carefully picking up Bulma and making sure she wasn't drooling on him or doing something primitive and disgusting, Vegeta made his way to the living quarters were Bulma had her room. Again he found himself for the second time that day holding this infuriating woman who made no sense to him and who he seemed to have developed a strange fixation on. He grunted when he opened her door. As soon as he stepped into the room, Bulma's ugly mutt attacked him. Muffin came at him like a bat out of hell.

"Get out of my way!" Vegeta growled at the dog. But instead of listening, the dog displayed the same irritating behavior as its master. Muffin ran around Vegeta's legs and let out excited little yips as he wriggled his body happily. He had been in Bulma's rooms ever since she had left that morning to go shopping and was happy to finally have some company. He started to jump on Vegeta, and then he playfully latched his sharp little teeth into Vegeta's spandex pant leg. Growling and pulling on Vegeta's leg, Muffin put all his energy into playing a rousing game of tug-of-war. Unfortunately for Muffin, he had picked the worst person to try and play with. Vegeta's eyes started to twitch and his face took on the scary grimace he got when he was in an extreme state anger.

"ENOUGH!" Vegeta bellowed at the dog. He kicked Muffin out of the way. The dog let out a yip of pain and slunk away from Vegeta. Glaring at the dog, Vegeta moved across the room to where Bulma's bed was situated. He carefully avoided all of her clothes, magazines, books and papers that where scattered messily across her entire room. 'What a slob. And she thinks I'm a pig.' Vegeta thought. 'I might not always smell fresh to her, but at least I pick up after myself. And she has the nerve to tell me to program a work bot when she obviously doesn't live up to her own advice.' He snorted out loud. 'What a hypocrite!' With that thought, he finally arrived at her bed. He dumped her into it, making sure she was lying on her back. He then turned around to leave, when he noticed Muffin still sitting dejectedly in the corner.

"Stupid dog, I hardly even touched you!" At the sound of his voice, Muffin forgot about whatever injustice Vegeta had meted out to him. He ran over to the Saiyan Prince and started licking his boot and whining.

"Ugh, what do you want? I should blast you for your insolence, but then I would have to spend even more time listening to that Woman scream. Get away from me!" Ignoring Vegeta's angry statement, Muffin continued to lick Vegeta's boots. He then moved away, lifted his leg and peed all over the door frame, mere inches from where Vegeta was standing. Not sure whether to be disgusted or amused at the dog's audacity to urinate in front of him, Vegeta chose to be amused. 'Ha! Stupid Baka! Even her dog defies her! And she'll have to clean up the mess when she wakes up." Thinking of how irritated Bulma would be, Vegeta chuckled as he walked out the door. Quickly turning around, he spotted Muffin sitting in the doorway looking as though he was an innocent little angel. Not wanting to deal with the offensive mutt any longer, Vegeta snapped Bulma's door shut before the dog could escape and continue to torture him.

As he walked down the hallway to his own bedroom, his stomach growled loudly. He had wasted half of the afternoon chasing that annoying idiot just so that he could get something to eat, and he still didn't have any food! And he realized that the cracks in the gravity room floor would weaken the integrity of the structure so that it wasn't safe for him to practice. To top it all off, the person who owed him to fix all of these things was currently out cold. Screwing his face up in a very pissed off expression, Vegeta pushed the button that opened the door to his own room. "That idiot's bad luck is running off onto me!" Why was life suddenly so confusing for him? He didn't understand, and he certainly didn't understand her. He was still disturbed by her challenge and those strange feelings he had gotten when she wouldn't answer him after she fell onto her face in the kitchen. Shoving those thoughts to the back recesses of his mind, Vegeta stripped out of his dirty training gear and threw it into in the waiting clothes hamper. Walking naked over to the bathroom, he turned on the shower, stepped in, and closed his eyes trying to let the hot water calm his body and his mind. "She is making me crazy! That woman is nothing but trouble, and she means nothing to me! **_Nothing_**!!" Try as he might to make those statements sound convincing to his own ears, they echoed hollowly to Vegeta. He started scrubbing his body vigorously as though he was trying to erase whatever demons were in his mind that concerned Bulma. Letting himself become absorbed in the task, Vegeta's thoughts about her finally went silent in his head as he contemplated the more important task of were he was going to train this evening. This day was just not going well.

_What is up with the Prince of Saiyans? And what about Bulma? Will her luck finally start to improve once she wakes up from her passed out state? Find out in the next chapter! Please R&R!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Well, here is Chapter 5. Hope you like it and that you don't get too grossed out _

_Disclaimer: I did not create DBZ, enough said_

_Chapter 5_

"Uuuhhnnnnnnnnnnnnghhh." Bulma groaned out groggily. Her head was killing her! She moved her hand over her face to shade her closed eyes from the sun that was streaking in through her window. She seriously felt as though she had been run over by a very large train, and the sunlight filtering through her eyelids was making her head throb even more. Lying on her back, Bulma contemplated what it would be like to try and move. Maybe it would be better if she just stayed in bed. She had been having the worst nightmare when she had finally come back to conscious awareness. In her dream, she had broken up with Yamcha, gotten in a fight with an asshole driving an SUV, been rescued by Prince Dickhead Vegeta, and then come home to find her mother's beloved kitchen in ruins. She'd also had disturbing thoughts about Vegeta trying to seduce her or something strange like that. If that was what her dream had been like, it probably was better to just stay safely tucked into her bed away from the cares of the rest of the world. She tried to relax and let her mind drift back into blissful oblivion when she felt something slimy move across her other hand, which was dangling off the side of her bed. At that same moment, she caught a whiff of something that was very reminiscent of a sewage treatment plant. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she tried to move her hand away from whatever it was that was wet, warm and sticky. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind.

"Muffin!" Bulma sat bolt upright in her bed and then wished that she hadn't been in such a hurry to sit up. The room spun around her in a dizzying circle, her head throbbed with such ferociousness it felt like it was being crushed in a vice grip, and she promptly vomited all over herself and her bed.

"Oh shit!" Bulma gagged as she wiped away the vomit that was dribbling down her chin with the back of her clean hand that hadn't been corrupted by dog slobber. She hated throwing up! Just thinking about the mess she was currently sitting in made her want to puke up again. She forced down a few dry heaves and then lay back in her bed to help her head stop spinning. Closing her eyes briefly, she tried to figure out why she was in such a state. She hadn't been around anyone that had had the flu recently, and the last time she had gone out to get smashed had been months ago. She tried to relax, but she realized that she was going to have to get up. Lying in her own vomit was not something she planned on doing indefinitely. And then there was that awful smell that reminded her of a very dirty and disgusting portapoty.

Very slowly, Bulma moved her body into a sitting position, using her hands to push her body upright. She then opened her eyes and let them adjust to the bright sunlight that was streaming into her room. Moving her head very slowly so as not to cause another spell of nausea, Bulma located Muffin, who was still sitting next to her bed. She then took in the numerous 'presents' he had left scattered across the floor around her room.

"Muffin!" Bulma admonished the dog, which quickly started wagging his furry little tail. He let out a little bark, and looked at Bulma as though he were the best dog in the whole wide world, incapable of creating the stench and disgusting mess that was all over Bulma's bedroom. Looking around, she noticed he had even managed to defecate all over her favorite red and black striped shirt she had carelessly left bunched in a ball on the floor.

"Muffin, it's not like you to leave a mess. You're usually such a good little stinker, aren't you? Yes you are!" At the sound of his name, Muffin's ears perked up and he started running around the room, carefully avoiding his numerous piles. He ran strait to the door and started pawing it furiously.

"Alright, I'm coming!" She stood up unsteadily as the room started to spin around her again while she orientated herself to her new position. Holding onto the nightstand, Bulma carefully started to walk towards the door, grabbing onto any furniture that was in her path, as well as avoiding any of the gifts that Muffin had left for her. She made it to the door without any mishaps, opened it, and let Muffin out into the rest of the complex. The little dog was only too happy to be let out of the room. He raced down the hallway towards the stairs and disappeared out of sight. With that, Bulma shakily pushed the button that closed her door and then reached for the communication link, which was located next to her on the wall. Calling down to the front desk, she had the receptionist page someone to let Muffin outside and to also send up a work bot that could bring fresh linens and would clean up the mess Muffin had made. She was in absolutely no shape to be traipsing around Capsule Corp this morning. She felt horrible! With that task completed, Bulma slowly walked across the room to one of the overstuffed armchairs she had placed in front of her plasma screen TV.

"I don't understand why Muffin would do something like this! He's usually so well trained and well behaved. It's like he's been in here for hours and hours, not just for the night!" Scratching her head in confusion, Bulma tried to figure out what was going on and why she was in such a sorry state. She then looked at her bed and realized that she had been sleeping on top of the covers, something she never did. Looking down and seeing the vomit all over the tank top she was wearing, Bulma realized that she had also been sleeping in her clothes, something she never, _ever_ did. It was then that her memory seemed to jog back to reality.

"Oh God, that dream wasn't a dream! The last thing I remember was trying to escape from Vegeta and tripping over that damn ceiling tile! How long have I been in my room? And more importantly, how the hell did I get up here?" Feeling along her hairline, Bulma found the giant bruise that had formed on her forehead. She suddenly had a very sickening thought

"Crap! Before I tripped on that ceiling tile, Vegeta was looking at me like, like….Oh Kami, what if he's the one that brought me up here? What if I was so out of it, I did something with that creep?" How would she even know? It wasn't like she could go up to Vegeta and ask him if they had done the tango last night. Calming herself down with deep breaths, Bulma decided she was most likely jumping the gun. Vegeta wasn't a nice person. Oh hell, he was an absolute asshole! But she didn't think that he would have jumped her when she was in an unconscious or semi-conscious state. Only a depraved lunatic would do something like that! And Vegeta seemed like the kind of man who would prefer his women to be willing participants, not passed out and unresponsive.

"Why the heck am I trying to figure out his preference for night time activities? Uugh!" With that last thought, Bulma again struggled to stand up and made her way to the bathroom. She needed a shower big time. Her hair was a wreck, she probably smelled worse than Vegeta had yesterday, and she was sure she was covered in dirt and grime, not to mention vomit. She also seriously needed to take some migraine pain medication. Her headache hadn't improved since she had been awake, and she couldn't function with the pounding going on inside her head. Besides which, by the time she managed to get herself out of the shower, the work bot should be done cleaning up Muffin's mess and changing the sheets that were covered in her puke. She carefully removed her garments, making sure she didn't get vomit in her hair. Turning on the hot water, she stepped into the shower, and let her mind drift into oblivion.

_About 30 minutes later give or take…_

"Ahhhh, I feel like I can join the land of the living," Bulma said as she finished towel drying her hair. Stepping out of the steaming bathroom with her hair wrapped up turban style in a towel and her body enclosed in a white, fluffy bathrobe, Bulma moved over to her sitting area and plopped herself down into one of her overstuffed armchairs. The work bot had come and gone while she was relaxing in the shower and all the evidence of her and Muffin's messes had been neatly and discreetly taken care of. You couldn't even tell that her room had looked and smelled worse than a public bathroom.

'The miracles of technology!' Propping her head in her right hand and tapping the fingers of her left hand along the arm of the chair she was sitting in, Bulma tried to figure out how she was going to deal with the rest of her day. Anything that happened to her today _had_ to be better than yesterday. Her head was still killing her, but the migraine medication she had taken had pushed the edge of the pain away so that she could at least move around with out feeling sick. Coming out of the shower and looking at the size of the bruise on her forehead had been somewhat of a shock for Bulma. 'Well, so much for going out on the town tonight! Even if I wanted to pick up a guy, no one would probably touch me with a ten-foot pole!' she had thought to herself.

In truth, Bulma didn't really even want to venture out of her rooms. She just didn't have the energy to argue with Vegeta, which would be the inevitable outcome if they ran into each other. On top of that, she was sort of embarrassed about tripping over the ceiling tile. _And_ she didn't know how to approach him about the subject regarding how she had ended up in her room. But her stomach was growling ferociously, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon when she had gone to the restaurant where she had seen Yamcha kissing another woman. Which meant she would have to find something to eat and would have to figure out about how to repair the ruined kitchen.

"Kami, just thinking about those two makes me pissed off! It's all their entire fault that I'm in this craptacular state!" Leaning her head against the back cushion of her chair, Bulma let out a loud sigh and decided she would have to get up and deal with the kitchen. The last thing she wanted was Vegeta breathing down her neck because he was hungry. Yet, it would serve him right not to have a place to eat for a while! Hadn't she just declared to him yesterday that she wasn't going to do whatever he wanted? And if she capitulated to him on this issue, he would be after her for every little thing!

Imitating Vegeta's voice, Bulma pretended how he would act if she kept giving into his demands. "It would be 'Woman! Make me a sandwich!' or 'Woman! Bring me a drink! or 'Woman! Fix the Gravity Room!' Ha! It's not like he doesn't already do that. He's got the attitude of a tyrannical dictator, and I just keep feeding his oversized ego every time I give into him and his stupid demands! He can find his own food, for all I care. I'll just order take out every day and rub it under his oversized nose!" Chuckling at her own maliciousness, Bulma decided it was probably time to get up and get dressed. Looking at her alarm clock, she was surprised to see that it was already after 12:00 PM. She'd been in her rooms for over 20 hours!

Walking over to her closet, Bulma wondered what Vegeta was up to. She was surprised (no, shocked!) that he hadn't been pestering her about the food issue. It was way past time when he usually came in for his midday meal, and come to think of it, he probably hadn't eaten since yesterday morning before he had blown up the kitchen. It was totally unlike Vegeta to let something like that slide.

"Maybe he's finally learned that he can't make me do whatever he wants and he's come to his senses!" Bulma said as she tried to figure out what to wear for the day. 'Yeah, right. He's probably just biding his time until I make an appearance. And then he'll give me holy hell for having the audacity to knock myself unconscious and not be able to fulfill his every desire!' Snorting her disgust for him, she finally decided on an outfit to wear. She picked out a fitted purple hooded sweatshirt and a pair of her old comfy jeans that she only wore around the house. Since she still felt awful, she decided on being comfortable instead of being fashionable. Anyway, whom was she going to impress? Vegeta? She'd rather stay ugly for him. She was still trying to sort out his apparent change about how attractive he regarded her, and well, she just didn't want her thoughts to stray in the direction that paired her and Vegeta together. She shuddered at the thought!

Finally feeling satisfied with her appearance, Bulma pulled her curly hair into a short ponytail and exited her rooms. Even though she really didn't want to deal with the kitchen issue, she still had to get an estimate of the damages and have it repaired before her parents returned from their trip. She was also going to have to call her mother and let her know that her prized collection of rooster pieces had been reduced substantially in size. "Really, Vegeta should have to pay for the mess he made out of the kitchen and for the replacement of my Mom's collection. Hehehe, it'll probably cost him a couple million zeni! He'd have to work it off in sweat labor for the rest of his life!" Bulma muttered to herself as she walked down the stairs that lead to the kitchen. The thought of Vegeta doing manual labor, the sort of things he demanded of her, for the rest of his life put a little skip in Bulma's step when she entered the scene of total destruction that Vegeta had caused.

"God, what a disaster!" Carefully stepping around the debris and making sure she wasn't in the path of anything that could cause her to fall over again, Bulma popped a capsule out of her pocket, hit the release button, and grabbed a hold of the pen, paper and digital camera that puffed out. Writing down all the damage that had been done, Bulma then proceeded to take pictures. They had good homeowners insurance, and her family was filthy rich, so it wouldn't be that difficult to fix the kitchen up in no time. It was just the principle of the thing that irritated Bulma. "Vegeta's always blowing things up and always demanding that either my father or myself fix his messes up! He just doesn't get it that here, he isn't the top banana!" Slamming her paper, pen and camera onto one of the few counter tops that hadn't been effected by Vegeta's explosion, she turned around and came face to face with the Prince himself.

'Great, I don't have time to be dealing with him! I wanted to avoid him, and it's like he's got some sort of global positioning system attached to me. How does he always seem to know where I am?' Bulma thought to herself.

"What were you saying about me?" Vegeta asked, a look of pure amusement gleaming in his eyes.

"Nothing at all. Why would I waste my time talking to myself about you, your Eminence?" Bulma retorted sarcastically. Moving towards Vegeta, she tried to step around his body, which was unfortunately blocking the entrance back to the living quarters.

"Huh, whatever!" Smirking at her, Vegeta moved backwards a step just to make it that much more difficult for her to maneuver around him. Frustrated, Bulma let a sigh of exasperation.

"Vegeta, I would really, _really_ like to get back to my rooms. I have a lot of work to do today, so could you please move out of the way?"

"It's a miracle! The Woman finally shows me some respect!" But instead of moving, Vegeta stood and watched her.

"What is your problem? I asked you, so now you're supposed to move out of the way. I don't have time for your childish behavior, Vegeta! I'm not feeling too good, so unless you want me to barf all over you, I'd suggest you move out of the way."

"Well, I wouldn't want to _inconvenience_ you, but while you've been wasting half of the day away in your room, I've been playing messenger for you. Or don't you want to know what's been going on while you've been asleep?"

'What is he up to? Vegeta playing messenger? Yeah right! He wants something!' Bulma thought. His behavior just didn't make sense, unless he was using it as leverage to get something in return.

Trying another tactic, Bulma decided to play along with his little game.

"Alright Vegeta, what is so important that you have to personally deliver the message yourself? And for your information, I wasn't sleeping! I was knocked out cold because some jerk, who shall remain nameless, tried to attack me!"

Crossing his arms and leaning his body against the doorframe, Vegeta looked like a cat that had got into the cream. Pausing to add suspense, he waited until it looked like Bulma was either going to attempt to strangle him (which would be a foolish and ridiculous move on her part) or try to shake him to get some answers. He had decided to try a different strategy with her. She did owe him, but she was so resistant to his demands. She did do things for him, but always at the expense of him yelling and haranguing her until he got his way. And the truth was, he enjoyed pissing her off. It was kind of stimulating. But that was the whole crux of the matter. She was driving him crazy. He'd done a lot of thinking last night while he had been meditating, and he decided the only way to stop thinking about her was to stop creating situations that stimulated his mind and other parts of him that she wasn't supposed to have any effect on. He couldn't train to his potential with his thoughts consciously and unconsciously on her, and maybe she would be more willing to do as he asked if he sort of blackmailed her with important information.

"I assure you, if I had attacked you, you wouldn't be alive to continue to try my patience. _AS_ I was saying, quite a few interesting events happened yesterday and today while you were wallowing around in your rooms." Moving his body slightly forward so he could watch Bulma as he recited his "information," Vegeta continued on before Bulma could interrupt him. "That retard mate of yours called here too many times to be mentioned. He was quite concerned that your car was discovered smashed to pieces in an intersection and you were no where to be found."

Kami, Vegeta had talked to Yamcha? That was not a good thing! 'He probably just did it out of spite! I wonder what they said to each other? There certainly is no love lost between those two!' Tapping her foot impatiently, Bulma interjected.

"Yeah, Vegeta. So what did he say? And for your information, though why I'm telling you this is beyond me, Yamcha and I are through. We were never 'mates', whatever that means, and I told him where to stick it yesterday. So, in the future, if you should ever be so kind and obliging to answer the phone again, if it's Yamcha, you can just blast the phone. I mean don't blast it physically, just don't answer it!" She had to put that last part in because knowing Vegeta, he probably would blast the darn thing.

"Humph! I'll blast the phone if I feel like it. I wouldn't have willingly talked to that baka anyway. It was either answer the damn communication device or listen to it ring incessantly! He's coming over here. In fact, if my estimate is correct, he should be here any minute!"

"WHAT!!! Why didn't you tell him to get lost?"

"Your stupid relationship is none of my business! How do you expect me to know that you and that idiot are over, whatever that means? I really could care less!" Vegeta snorted at her.

"Well, when he shows up, you can just tell him to get his ass off of my property!"

" I will do no such thing, Woman! I've already done enough for you as it is!"

"Like what have you done for me Vegeta? You saved my life just because you need me to get you food! I've already figured that one out after seeing the state of the kitchen. And you took me up to my bedroom and dumped me on my bed and did whatever perverted thing you could think of while I was out cold!" Bulma added the last part in because she really didn't know and was sort of curious about the whole bedroom situation. It certainly got the better of Vegeta's control on his temper. Bulma inwardly smirked as she saw his face start to take on his "scary face" as she called it. Yeah, he was pissed now!

"**_WHAT!_** Why would I do anything like that with you? You were filthy and out cold, and I do have my standards. And you certainly don't fit into them!" Vegeta stalked away from the door and moved into Bulma's territory.

"But you do admit to taking me to my room! And don't deny it, I saw the way you were looking at me before I tripped on that tile! It wasn't the look of someone that had no intention of doing the tango, if you catch my meaning!"

"Huh, your delusional Woman!" Vegeta tried to side step that issue. He had only been playing her at her own game, but, well, his reaction had been a bit more intense then he had planned on it being. And he certainly didn't want her to know that! Not that she would care anyway. 'Gods, why do I keep going back to this ridiculous subject! I don't like her and I certainly don't want her!' He argued with himself in his mind, getting as far as he had been able to do yesterday evening, which was nowhere. Trying to regain control of the situation, he backed up a step and tried to calm himself down.

"I brought you back to your room, dumped you on the bed, and made my way back to my own rooms. I did absolutely nothing with you, and I wouldn't do anything with you even if you asked me too! In your current state, I don't think any member of the male sex would take you up on an offer. You look hideous."

"Fine, whatever. You think I look hideous. Big deal! I wouldn't want you either! This is a ridiculous conversation Vegeta, and I have important things to take care of. Your information is appreciated. Now could you please let me pass?" With that, Bulma tried to physically push him out of the way, but pushing Vegeta was like pushing a brick wall. He wouldn't even budge. At least he didn't smell today! 'So much for small favors,' Bulma thought before sticking daggers into the Prince of all Saiyans with her bright, blue eyes.

"Not so fast Woman! In return for talking with that idiot, saving your life _and_ taking you up to your room, there are a few things I would like _you_ to do for _me._ I managed to find something to eat last night, but my stomach is quite adamant on being fed. You will find me food before you go anywhere else. Also, the Gravity Room suffered an unfortunate accident yesterday. The floor has structural cracks that need to be repaired. I am unable to train in it, so it needs to be taken care of immediately. I also melted one of the attack bots. It is in your laboratory waiting to be repaired. As your father has chosen to go on a vacation with your bimbo of a mother, you'll have to fix it for me."

"Are you deaf _and_ stupid Vegeta? I told you yesterday that I wasn't going to take orders from you anymore! And, as I recall, I kicked you out of the house! Forget it. Find your own food, fix the damn gravity room yourself, and live without the attack bot because I am **_not_** going to do what you tell me to do!" Storming away from Vegeta, Bulma opted to try and get out the front door, which Vegeta wasn't blocking. This time, though, she paid attention to where she was stepping. But she didn't get very far. Before she had managed to move a few steps, she felt something grab her arm and spin her around so that she was backed up against the wall. Standing before her and blocking her movements was Vegeta. And he was giving her that same look he had been giving her yesterday before she had knocked herself unconscious.

"You seem to delight in making me angry. And you really shouldn't be doing that Bulma."

Nervously, Bulma tried to squirm out of his grasp, but it was impossible. And he was right. If this was how he was going to act when she pissed him off, she didn't want to be making him angry. This was a Vegeta that Bulma didn't know how to deal with. And as she unconsciously had a sort of crush on him, his behavior was making her all the more uncomfortable.

"Okay, okay! Just let me go Vegeta, and I promise I'll fix whatever it is you want fixed!" 'Oh, so lame Bulma! You're such a coward! Now he'll never take me seriously!' she thought desperately.

"Not so fast! How do I know that you will honor your promise? I wouldn't want to be taken advantage of." Looking into his serious eyes, she knew he wasn't kidding. She was making a deal with the devil himself, and this was precisely the position she didn't want to be in.

"I promise you Vegeta that I'll fix the GR and the work bot. I'll start as soon as you let me go!"

"And you'll continue to fix things that I break and make sure I have the sustenance that I need in order to train." Moving in closer so that their bodies were touching, he squeezed her wrists in emphasis.

"N-n-no, Vegeta. I will not make any s-s-such p-p-romise! I'll fix your mess this t-t-t-ime, but t-that's it." 'God, what did I just do!' Bulma thought. This situation was totally out of her control and she was challenging him yet again! But before she could try to struggle out of his grip, Vegeta suddenly let her go. Wondering why he did so, when only seconds before he was way into her personal, _personal _space, Bulma peered around the still body of Vegeta only to see Yamcha standing in the doorway of the kitchen staring incredulously at the two of them, a dozen roses wilting in his overly tight grip.

_Ooohhhh, Yamcha! How does the Prince of all Saiyans react when none other then her recent ex interrupts his unexpected interlude with Bulma? And what does Bulma think of escaping Vegeta yet again? Is he acting strange or what! To find out, you'll have to read the next chapter._


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks for all of the encouraging reviews! I really appreciate them!_

_Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z and all characters in this story belong to Akira Toriyama. All except for Muffin anyway! _

_Chapter 6_

"Oh yeah, Bulma! You're so innocent! I come over to apologize and find out if you're okay, and here you are, making out with that creep! I'll wager you've been kissing in the corners ever since he moved in with you! How could you do that with a psychotic mass murderer?" Yamcha stated angrily as he shook the roses that were in his hand until all the petals had fallen off, making a mess on the already ruined floor of the kitchen.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything?" Yamcha demanded. He gave Vegeta a dirty look. The guy was just standing there, right smack in front of Bulma, with that same arrogant look on his face that said he thought he was better than everyone on Earth. 'I'll pound him one of these days! So what if he practices in 400 times gravity? I'll get him!' Yamcha thought as he imagined scenes in his head of Bulma and Vegeta making out and then laughing at his expense.

Moving out from behind Vegeta, Bulma put her hands on her hips and gave Yamcha a piercing look with her ice blue eyes.

"Yeah! I'll say something! Get lost, jerkwad! Leave, skiddaddle! Vamoose! I told you yesterday that we were though! Or don't you know what that means, Yamcha?"

"I know what it means Bulma. I just didn't think you were serious. But now I can see why you were so willing to throw all the years we had together out the window! You really have been going out with him this whole time haven't you? You were just waiting for an excuse to end our relationship, I know how it is!" He glanced over at Vegeta, who was still standing in the same exact spot. So far, he hadn't contradicted anything Yamcha had accused the two of them of doing, which was surprising, to say the least.

'This is rich,' Vegeta snickered to himself. Watching the two of them bicker was amusing to say the least, especially since Vegeta could see Yamcha was using the scene he had walked into as a way to assuage his guilt over being a pathetic mate to Bulma. For the moment, he was content to watch the two of them scream at each other.

"Oh yeah," Bulma said sarcastically. "I've been sleeping with Vegeta the whole time. That's why I was so angry with you for sneaking around behind my back with other women. WHATEVER YAMCHA! Like I would want to sleep with Vegeta anyway!" With that, she nodded her head in Vegeta's direction. Vegeta, who was listening carefully to the conversation, narrowed his eyes at that last comment. Who wouldn't want to sleep with the Prince of Saiyans? She didn't know what she was talking about! Yamcha interrupted his train of thought.

"Yeah, that's why I caught the two of you red handed tonguing and groping each other!"

"Oh, give me a break. You're only seeing what you want to see so you don't have to feel so guilty for stabbing me in the back! Look around you, Yamcha! This isn't exactly the best place for a romantic interlude," she said as she gestured at the remains of what had once been a state of the art kitchen.

At that last comment, Yamcha pulled his angry gaze off of the offending couple and glanced around the area. A look of shock swept over his features as he took in the carnage around him.

"Kami, Bulma! What happened in here? Did you try cooking something and it back fired?"

"Oh, very funny Yamcha. I can cook! Maybe not as well as a chef, but I do know my way around the kitchen."

Finally Vegeta interjected into the conversation. "Huh, you can cook? You call that slop you feed me day in and day out cooking? I've had better road kill then what you manage to make in here."

"Ooooh, Vegeta. Just stay the hell out of this conversation! I don't recall asking you for your opinion on my cooking skills. I'm trying to make a point here!"

"Really? And what point is that?" Vegeta asked.

"That if Yamcha was ever around, he would know what an excellent cook I am!"

"Humph, he'd know what an atrocious cook you are!"

"Hey," Yamcha interrupted. "I thought this was between me and Bulma, Vegeta. We don't need your comments. In fact, I think you should just get out of here before I pound you into the ground."

Vegeta gave Yamcha a once over before he replied.

"You think you'd have a chance against me? You're deluding yourself. If you really want to end up in another early grave, one that won't see you brought back to the living, then we can take this outside. But I don't think you're stupid enough to mess with such an idiotic idea."

"Yeah, well, I'm tougher than I look! I'm loads stronger than I was when you and that hulk of an ugly mother showed up here on Earth. We'll see who comes out on top!"

"You couldn't even survive against one of our Saibamen. No matter how much stronger you've become, I've grown dramatically in strength as well. You were no match for me when I first came to Earth, and you're certainly no match for me now." What was the idiot thinking? That he was going to challenge him over Bulma? Vegeta didn't even want to fight over the stupid woman. And no matter how satisfying it would be to pound the stupid baka, he didn't want to listen to anymore of Bulma's caterwauling. No matter what she said about not being a mate to the idiot, he knew that if he exercised his power over the weakling, Bulma would start in on him again, and he didn't think he could take much more of her bitching about the loser and how mean Vegeta was to him. His ears could only take so much.

"Oh, would the two of you just **STOP**!" Bulma shouted as she stepped between Yamcha and Vegeta. She did not want to have to clean up even more of a mess then she already had to deal with. Putting her finger on Yamcha's chest, she pushed him towards the open door. At least he moved when she pushed on him, unlike the arrogant man standing next to them.

"Out of my house now Yamcha! I don't want to deal with you until I've cooled down. Just get it in your dim-witted head that we….. **are**….. **OVER**!"

Yamcha dropped the ruined bouquet on the floor and then put his arms out to either side of him and grabbed the open doorway as though his life depended on it.

"Come on Bulma," he pleaded. "Can't we just talk about this? I swear, I didn't mean to kiss Delilah. It was an accident. Please give me another chance!" He tried to look as pathetic as possible. He didn't want to loose Bulma…or the financial security he would have if they stayed together.

"Huh, Forget it! I've given you one chance too many, and you never, _ever_ change Yamcha! And how can you kiss a person accidentally? You either kiss or you don't." Bulma said as she gave him a hard shove.

"It's not what you think Bulma!"

"Just put a sock in it! AND anyway, if you were such a great boyfriend, you wouldn't be making up all sorts of excuses so I'll take you back. You would've noticed what terrible shape I'm in and would have done something about it. But all that's come out of your mouth is how I destroyed my own kitchen and how I've been kissing Vegeta in secret. You're such a self-centered pig, Yamcha!" This time, she shoved him so hard that he let go of the doorframe and fell out of it, landing on his ass once again.

Looking up at Bulma in surprise, Yamcha noticed for the first time the large bruise that was plastered across her forehead. Angry, he jumped up and tried to enter the doorway that Bulma was blocking.

"Vegeta! You did this to her! You'll pay!" Yamcha yelled as he shook his fist at the Saiyan Prince.

"Huh, she did it to herself, weakling! You of all people should know that she has less coordination than a twenty ton dinosaur." Vegeta smirked at Yamcha over his crossed arms. 'Idiot! First he accuses me of making advances towards her and then he accuses me of beating her! Although she could use a thorough beating once in a while to tame some of her spirit.' And Vegeta thought he would rather enjoy administering that beating. Shaking his head in frustration at the uncouth thoughts that kept invading his mind, Vegeta stepped towards the retreating Bulma and the advancing Yamcha.

Turning around and giving Vegeta a dirty look, Bulma looked like she was going to spit back a fierce retort. Rather than wait for her to open her mouth, Vegeta raised his left arm and made a stopping gesture with his hand. Bulma's eyes bulged in anger, but she kept her mouth blessedly shut. When Vegeta was smack in front of Yamcha, he looked up at the taller man and gave him a sneer that would have made any normal person quake in their boots.

"I believe the Woman told you to leave the premises. I've had enough of your insinuating comments. Leave now, or I will personally see to it that you wish you were dead, as your misery will be so acute, you'll think you're living in a Hell on Earth." With that comment said, Vegeta preceded to grind his fist into his palm, mimicking what we would do to Yamcha if he didn't take his advice and leave Capsule Corporation property.

"Huh, well, last time I looked, this was a free country. I'm not going anywhere until I make sure for myself that you didn't put that ugly blemish on Bulma's forehead," Yamcha said as he tried to still his speeding heart rate. For all his earlier bravado, it was one thing to spout of a bunch of idle threats and quite another to be face to face with an adversary that made him look like an untrained idiot when it came to fighting. Besides that, Vegeta had the uncanny ability to look extremely frightening for all that he was shorter and more slender in build than Yamcha. There was also the irrefutable fact that while Vegeta had been pushing himself to new levels in the Gravity Room, Yamcha had been wasting a lot of his 'training time' on girls. He knew that for all of his thoughts on beating Vegeta up, he was pretty much outclassed. But he couldn't back down. There was the principle of the matter. He couldn't let Vegeta get away with beating up his girlfriend, no way! Swallowing audibly, he waited for Vegeta's response.

"Hmm, ask her yourself. I'll give you five seconds." 'Idiot, he's asking for it, and I'm in the mood to give him what he wants,' thought Vegeta. This would make for a very pleasant diversion, one that he'd been wanting to participate in since he landed back on this Godforsaken lump of rock.

Looking over at Bulma, Yamcha tried to get his mouth to work. Having Vegeta standing right in front of him with his trademark evil smirk wasn't helping matters. And then having to look at Bulma who looked like she was about to spit nails at the two of them made matters even worse. Clearing his throat, Yamcha preceded to ask Bulma about the ugly purple mark on her face.

"Bulma…"

"One…"

"Did Vegeta…."

"Two…"

"punch you…"

"Three…"

"and give you…"

"Four…"

"that bruise?"

"Five. Time's up!" Smirking at Yamcha, Vegeta rubbed his hands in anticipation.

"Hey, that's not fair," Yamcha whined. "Bulma hasn't answered my question, Vegeta."

Looking over at Bulma, Yamcha pleaded with her to extend Vegeta's ultimatum.

"Life isn't fair. That's a lesson you should have learned a long time ago." With that said, Vegeta fazed in front of Yamcha so fast he didn't know what hit him. One second, he was standing in the door way, the next; he was flying through the air at record fast speed. Rocketing through the air, he couldn't control his body. Plus, whatever Vegeta had done was causing him to feel excruciating pain. Wrapping his arms around his sore stomach, Yamcha was oblivious to the tree that was coming up behind him until it was too late. With a sickening thud, Yamcha crashed into the tree with so much force that the tree cracked in half under the pressure and landed on the prostrate warrior.

Watching from the kitchen doorway with a look of both shock and satisfaction, Bulma saw Yamcha slam into the tree that was all the way across the grounds. She then let out a gasp of surprise and concern as she watched the tree proceed to fall over and land on top of Yamcha.

"Oh my God! Oh, I hope he's alright!" Bulma cried out as she put her hands to her mouth in a look that reeked of concern for the idiot. Old habits die hard, and before she knew what she was doing, Bulma was getting ready to run across the grounds to the prone Yamcha. Before she had managed to get more than a foot, she felt something snag her arm. Catapulting backward, she once again found herself up against the rock hard body of Vegeta. Making a mental note that this seemed to be a ritual that was starting between the two of them, she tried to whirl around to face him. Struggling against him, she stilled when she felt his hot breath blowing across her ear before he spoke up.

"I thought you said he meant nothing to you. If that's the case, then you had better not be running over to him. It might give him the wrong impression, and I don't want to have to throw him out again, no matter how satisfying it may be. It is beneath me to act in such a manner!" Plus, he didn't want to have to listen to any more of Bulma's screaming than he had too. With that, he let go of Bulma's arm and watched as she staggered forward to catch her balance.

Relieved and slightly disappointed, though why she was, Bulma didn't know, she moved away from Vegeta's disquieting presence. She let out an audible sigh when Yamcha staggered up from where he was under the tree. Watching him shake himself off and then proceed to take himself shakily off of her property, Bulma breathed a sigh of relief. She then started to laugh out loud, both to Vegeta's amazement and disgust.

"Ha! That's what he gets for messing with me! He just doesn't learn. You'd think he'd have figured it out the first time I laid him out with a sucker punch! Maybe now he'll finally have it figured out in his thick skull that we are over for good!" Spinning around, she threw her arms around Vegeta.

"Ugh, what are you doing Woman? Get off of me!" Standing stiffly, he tried to move away from her bizarre behavior. She was so confusing. One moment she was trying to escape the grip he had placed on her arm, and the next, she was throwing herself at him.

Humming a happy tune, Bulma proceeded to dance around Vegeta until her headache came back in full force, causing her to abruptly stop before she embarrassed herself in front of him by puking her guts up.

"Well, I guess I should thank you. I didn't think you would literally kick him out, but I'm glad you did. I don't think I could stomach much more of his asinine attitude." Bulma looked at Vegeta awkwardly. He was still standing in the same spot he had been in since kicking Yamcha out, but he looked…Well, he looked as uncomfortable as she was feeling.

"Humph. Just add it to the list of all the things you owe me Woman. And just so you don't get any foolish ideas in your head, I did it for my own sanity. My reasons had nothing to do with you."

"Oh, of course Your High and Mightiness!" With that, Bulma gave him a sarcastic bow, and walked around him towards the living area. Before she had gotten more than a few steps, Vegeta's voice interrupted her progress.

"You had better not forget your promise Woman. I would be remiss if I didn't remind you, seeing as you seem to possess a limited ability to retain information."

Bulma slowly turned around on her heel, and looked at Vegeta with both a look of anger and forced resignation.

"Fine Vegeta. I'll make sure you get your three square meals a day even though it's your own damn fault the kitchen is out of commission. And I'll start working on the Gravity Room as soon as I find out what happened to my dog _and_ after I take some more painkillers for my horrible headache. But that's it! I didn't promise to keep fixing your messes! Got it?"

"Perfectly." Vegeta said with a look that said he clearly didn't "get it."

"Fine. I'm glad we're in agreement. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving!" With that, Bulma sashayed her ass out of the room, not looking back.

Looking at the retreating form, Vegeta shook himself out of the strange sensations that were making him go crazy around her. It was like he was…._attracted_ to her! Shaking his head, he smirked at his handiwork, and then proceeded to leave through the kitchen door that Yamcha had left open when he left. His stomach growled angrily, and he rubbed it absently. He'd hang around the property until he had something to eat, and then he was going to go into the desert to train, as he had no where to train around here until the Gravity Room was back in commission.

_Back in Bulma's rooms…_

…. "Mom! No way! I absolutely refuse! You can't be serious!" Bulma yelled into the receiver of the phone she was cradling in her arm.

"Well dear, now that you're broken up with that Yamcha boy, you need to move on! You aren't getting any younger, dear! You need someone to take care of you, and Vegeta's just perfect for you!" her mother replied with a simpering giggle.

"Mom, you are whacked! I know you have some weird crush on Vegeta, but pu-lease! Stop trying to live your sick fantasies through me! I don't want to think of another man right now, much less _Vegeta!_ He makes me sick with his shity attitude!"

"Oh honey, you're just saying that because you think he's a cutie! I mean, who wouldn't think he was cute? His muscles are positively dreamy! Me makes me want to faint whenever he comes near me," Mrs. Briefs tittered into the phone.

"Ewww Mother! You shouldn't be thinking those kinds of things! What about Dad? How can you be thinking about Vegeta when you're on a romantic getaway with your husband? _That_ is just plain wrong Mom! And don't you even care that he destroyed most of your rooster collection, along with over half of the kitchen? It's going to cost thousands of zeni to fix the mess _he_ created!" Honestly, Bulma was beginning to think her Mother had gone off the deep end! It was ridiculous how she went on and on about Vegeta, especially since Vegeta made no secret that he thought her mother was an idiot.

"I can always buy more roosters off E-Bay, and we have plenty of money to fix the kitchen!"

"That's not the point Mom! If we keep giving into Vegeta without some sort of consequence, he's just going to keep destroying things and bullying everyone until he gets his way! I'm sick of it! He's just a big, spoiled, incredibly strong baby. He acts like every other guy out there, meaning he thinks women are around to serve and cater to his every whim! It's bad enough that I promised to feed him and fix the GR when I told him I wasn't going to take orders from him!" Bulma shuddered in exasperation at her own weakness and cowardice. Why couldn't she stand up to him? And why was he acting so strange around her all of a sudden? It was like he suddenly couldn't stop touching her. It was starting to freak her out a bit.

"Well, he did save your life! It really is the least you could do for him."

"Whatever Mom! He's using the life saving thing as a front to get what he wants, nothing more! I don't know why he saved me, but I'm not going to play slave to the jerk just because he managed to be in the right place at the right time. Normal people wouldn't be making demands!"

"Fine dear. Do what you think is best. I just think your throwing a good thing out before you even started."

"Come on Mom! Get serious! There is no 'good thing' between myself and Vegeta." Feeling the pounding in her head beginning to increase in intensity, Bulma decided it was a good time to end the conversation with her Mother. It wasn't getting anywhere anyway. It was disturbing to Bulma how set her Mother was on her and Vegeta hooking up. She visibly shuddered, although it was more of a gesture to convince herself that she thought Vegeta was disgusting. In reality, she did find him to be attractive, even if he was shorter than any other guy she had ever dated. There was an undeniable chemistry between the two of them, but Bulma thought of it as chemistry between two people that liked to bicker with one another. That was it!

"Hey Mom, sorry to cut this conversation short, but I've gotta find out what happened to Muffin, and I really need to take some medicine for my headache."

"Okay honey! I hope you feel better! And make sure you treat Vegeta nice for me!"

"Fine Mom! Love you and Dad!" With that, Bulma hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair. Massaging her temples, she decided that she needed to get out of Capsule and start meeting new people. Maybe if she found a new boyfriend, she wouldn't have to listen to her Mother about Vegeta, and she could use her boyfriend as a way to stay away from him too. Deciding that was what she was going to do, Bulma set herself up a course of action. She was going to get a nice boyfriend, one that wasn't a sucky male! One that would respect her, listen to her, and make her feel like she was the queen of the world! Feeling satisfied with her resolution, Bulma got up from her chair and made her way to the bathroom medicine cabinet and the relief she knew was inside.

_What's Bulma's plan? And what will Vegeta think about it? To find out, stay tuned in for the next chapter!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey everyone! Thanks for the nice reviews! Here's the newest installment!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own Dragon Ball Z !_

_Chapter 7_

_One week later…._

It had been almost a week since Bulma had had broken off her longtime relationship with Yamcha, had her near death experience, and had had to deal with a demolished kitchen, ruined Gravity Room and the unpleasant company of a certain Saiyan Prince. Life had seemed to resume back to normal, which was fine by Bulma. If her week would have continued on in the vein that it had started out in, she thought she would probably have voluntarily killed herself just to rid herself of the misery she had been suffering through. It was enough to make anyone drink to oblivion! Unfortunately for Bulma, she really didn't have the luxury to do either. True to his word, Vegeta hadn't bugged her unnecessarily, but that didn't mean he didn't try her patience. And she was going crazy! The single life was sort of depressing. Because of her bad break with Yamcha, she was afraid to have to confront the rest of the Z squad. What would they think of her? She had pretty much told anyone that would listen that she and Yamcha were going to get married someday, and now, that sure as hell wasn't going to happen.

Sighing, Bulma leaned back in the chair she was sitting on down in the lab area of Capsule Corporation. Since the events of last week, Bulma had buried herself in extra projects just to keep her mind off of Yamcha and the equally unwanted thoughts that popped into her mind concerning Vegeta. He seemed to be acting like his normal self, which meant that he had a constant case of male PMS. He was such a grouch! She didn't even think the guy knew how to smile! The only expression he seemed to have was his trademark creepy, evil, in your face smirk.

Trying to get her mind back on track, Bulma looked at the schematics of the Gravity Room. She rubbed her eyes when the charts in front of her started to blur and dance across the page. Things were just not going the way she wanted them to go today! Deciding to beat Vegeta at his own sick game, Bulma had been working on upgrades for the Gravity Room before he could demand them himself. But it was wearing her out! She had spent a whole day repairing the cracks he had so ungraciously created in the GR doing lord knew what. And he was constantly breaking something. She was sure it was just to irritate her. But instead of waiting for him to come to her and bitch at her about how primitive the GR was, Bulma had been working on the stupid thing whenever she got a chance to. Which seemed to be every waking moment!

"Kami, this is driving me insane!" Bulma muttered. Deciding she needed a break, she pushed her chair back, stretched and then made her way towards the exit that led to the living quarters of Capsule Corporation. Rubbing her forehead with her free hand, she winced when it came in contact with the bruise that was still lingering there. Talk about embarrassing! The day she came back to work, all the tech people and scientists had been morbidly curious about how she had gotten it. They had all assumed it had happened when her car had been totaled. Since the real reason was far more embarrassing, Bulma had gone along with their idea. She wasn't going to admit that she had tripped on a ceiling tile in a bid to escape from Vegeta. The worst part about the whole situation was that she couldn't commence with her 'plan' to find a new man! At least the darn thing wasn't giving her headaches anymore, but it had turned into a sickly greenish yellow color that was difficult to conceal with makeup. She shook her head in exasperation, and then continued on her way up to the living area.

Walking into her parent's posh living area, Bulma threw herself onto an obliging couch. Sprawling herself across it, she found the remote she had hidden and turned the television on. It was late afternoon, so the only thing on was stupid soap operas. Sighing, she flipped through about one hundred channels before deciding it was a useless endeavor to find anything worth watching. She hadn't realized how long she'd been in the bowels of Capsule Corporation. No wonder her eyes had started to go haywire. She'd been down there since 8:00 am without a break, and it was currently almost 3:00 pm. Shutting her eyes, she decided to take a short nap. Unfortunately for her, it was short lived.

"**_Woman!_**"

Bulma almost jumped out of her skin. Sitting up quickly, she put a hand to her beating heart before she turned around to face the person who had so rudely awoken her from her slumber.

"Vegeta! Don't do that! I could have had a heart attack! You are _such_ a creep! Can't you see that I'm relaxing here? Go bother someone else!" With that, she reclined back into the cushions of the couch and closed her eyes. She'd been doing a pretty good job of avoiding him, and she just didn't want to deal with his attitude at the moment. Was it too much to ask for some peace and quiet before she had to return to her work?

Vegeta glared at Bulma's relaxing form before he decided to change tactics. If she wasn't going to listen to him, he'd find some other way for her to do as he asked. Grabbing a hold of the sofa Bulma was relaxing on, he shook it so hard that Bulma slid off the side and landed on the floor, making a large thudding noise in the process. He snorted with amusement when she let out a yell and then proceeded to stand. Glaring back at him, she marched herself around the couch until she was face to face with him. His blood started to hum with anticipation. It had been…. Well, it had been a while since they'd had a confrontation. She'd been hiding from him like a coward since they'd come to their little agreement. Part of him was satisfied about that. She was finally starting to show him some respect. The other part of him, the part that was excited about seeing the spark of challenge in her blue eyes as she glared at him, had secretly missed their endless verbal sparring matches. He tried to squash those thoughts, but he was having more and more difficulty doing so. It was very confusing for him, a person who had always been in control of his body and his mind. Ignoring his uncertainty, Vegeta moved forward until they were almost touching. He inwardly grinned when Bulma's fierce gaze took on a look of decided discomfort.

"I require something to eat." At that comment, Vegeta's stomach let out a loud growl. It sounded to Bulma like a lion lived inside of there. It grossed her out while it simultaneously amused her twisted sense of humor.

"Forget it! I'm not in the mood to order you something to eat. I almost can't wait for the kitchen to be finally repaired. Feeding you takeout is starting to strain my pocket book!" The last part wasn't really true. Her family had mounds of money, but it _was_ really expensive. Yesterday alone had cost almost 200 zeni just to feed him one meal of takeout from the local Japanese barbecue joint. "Besides which, _I _haven't had anything to eat since I got up this morning, and you don't hear me complaining do you? So deal with your hunger pains and leave me alone!" With that said, Bulma decided to retreat up to her rooms. He wouldn't dare follow her in there! She'd have Muffin attack him with sloppy poochie kisses, and if that didn't discourage Vegeta, she'd…. She'd threaten to strip naked in front of him and dance the mamba! She snickered at the thought of what Vegeta's expression would be. But then again… With the way that he'd been acting around her lately, her second plan didn't seem so sound.

"What are you laughing about?" Vegeta demanded gruffly. He didn't have all day to stand around and watch the foolish female go into one of her zone out periods. He was starving and she was being impossible! Deciding to intimidate her, he moved in even closer, knowing that their proximity would make her feel uneasy.

Bulma looked at Vegeta uncomfortably. 'Here we go again,' she thought. 'What is with him and invading my personal space? I really am starting to think he has the hots for me, no matter how much he denies it! And I don't want him to have the hots for me. Eeeewwww! He's nothing but a short, stinky monkey!'

"Back off, Vegeta! Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's rude to invade someone's personal space? Well buddy, you've gone way over the line and you're making me nervous!" But instead of having the intended effect of Vegeta stepping back, he only seemed to move in further.

"I'll move out of your 'personal space' as soon as you find one of those communication devices and order me something to eat. I feel in the mood for that food your people make. The one that's flat and has some sort of sauce and stringy substance on top of it." Just thinking about eating one of those was making Vegeta's mouth water and it also had the unintended effect of making his stomach growl even louder and more impatiently than before.

"It's called a pizza Vegeta, and if you want one so bad, order it yourself! I have work to do!" Withdrawing her cell phone, she shoved it at Vegeta, who was so surprised by her action he actually picked the thing up before it could drop to the floor.

"What am I supposed to do with this device Woman?"

"You're a somewhat intelligent man Vegeta. You should be able to figure it out for yourself."

"Figure out what?" Cocking his eyebrow, he held onto the phone and waited for her explanation. He already knew how to use one, seeing as the technology here on Earth was far more primitive than the technology he had used while working for Frieza. That is with the exception of the machines that Dr. Briefs and Bulma had invented for his personal training use. But he knew that asking her for an explanation would exasperate Bulma even more, and the demon in his head, the one that he was having a difficult time controlling, thought it would be entertaining to watch her get flustered.

"Oh give me a flipping break! I know as well as you do that you're being deliberately obtuse! Just flip the damn thing open, push the green button and look at the screen. Scroll down to the second number, the one that's labeled Makoto's Marvelous Pizza, press the green button again and place your order! Honestly, a baby could do it!"

"And how do you expect me to place an order? It's your responsibility to make sure I get my meals, not mine. And I absolutely refuse to speak to the low class servant that takes down the order. That is…"

"Beneath your dignity!" Bulma interrupted sassily. "I know, I _know already!_ Fine, give me the phone, your Excellency!" Ugh, the guy would just not quit! She knew she had agreed to feed him, but honestly, his stomach was like a never-ending pit! And it was getting ridiculous having to order him something to eat every time he was hungry! Thank the heavens above that the kitchen would be finished by tomorrow if everything went according to plan. She could have someone from Capsule place an order with the grocery store, have the food encapsulated and placed inside the new commercial walk in refrigerator she was having specially installed, and she wouldn't have to deal with Vegeta until the food was almost out again. Grabbing the phone from Vegeta's outstretched hand, she ignored the taunting smirk on his stupid face and quickly pressed the buttons that would place her call through to the pizza joint.

"Yeah, hi. This is Bulma Briefs from Capsule Corporation, and I'd like to place an order for delivery. No, no..I'll make sure to answer the door. You don't have to worry about him." With that comment, she gave Vegeta a withering stare. The last time she'd ordered pizza, Vegeta had been there to intercept the delivery guy. Needless to say, the poor man had been scared out of his whits! Vegeta had managed to traumatize the guy somehow so much so that he had quit his job and locked himself in his apartment for a month. Bulma had learned her lesson and always made sure she was waiting for the delivery guys before Vegeta could show up and act like the assehole that he was.

"Are you ready for my order? Okay, here goes. I'd like twelve, no make that thirteen, extra large super spicy meat combo pizzas with extra cheese and meat." She paused on the phone as though she were listening, and then continued on. "I'm sure I want the super spicy meat combo on all thirteen. Believe me, where they're going, it won't matter a bit. Yeah, that's it. Oh yeah, can I also have a personal sized spinach, calamari, mushroom and alfredo pizza as well? Yeah, what the hell! Throw in a couple orders of breadsticks as well. That should do it! Thanks! Thirty minutes? That should be fine. See you then!" With that, Bulma flipped her cell phone to off and stuck it in one of the pockets of the lab coat she was wearing.

"See Vegeta, that wasn't so hard now was it? You act like such a baby sometimes!"

"And you don't know when to shut your stupid mouth!"

"Well, someone's got to tell you how immature you act. Seeing as I'm the only one brave enough to do it, well then, you'll just have to get used to it bucko!" With that, Bulma stepped around Vegeta and headed towards the stairs. Arguing with him had turned her off to the idea of heading back down to the lab to work on modifications for the stupid GR. She sometimes wished her father hadn't invented the darn thing! She was really tempted to sabotage the stupid machine and pretend she couldn't fix it. But knowing Vegeta, he'd make her life a living Hell, and it just wasn't worth the effort. She probably wouldn't have minded making changes to the programs and fixing it when it was broken if Vegeta had some manners. But he acted like he was entitled to getting his own way. Bulma thought that it would be really nice if he would actually say please or thank you once in a while. But she knew that she would have to wait an eternity before that ever happened! She sighed as her foot hit the stairs, and then stopped when she heard Vegeta call out her name, or rather, the awful nickname he had given her. She was tempted to ignore him and tell him that 'Woman' wasn't her name, but she knew that any trouble she went to by correcting the mistake would mean absolutely nothing to Vegeta. Bulma knew he just called her 'Woman' to irritate her and every time she argued with him about it, she was just giving into his bait. Turning around, she put her hands on her hips and gave Vegeta a look before she answered him.

"What do you want now Vegeta?"

"Where is the food? I want it now!"

Rolling her eyes, Bulma replied back to him.

"They have to make the order, Baka! I can't just magically snap my fingers and expect thirteen extra large pizzas to appear out of nowhere. It takes time for such a large order to be made from scratch. And on top of that, they have to deliver it here and Capsule is on the opposite side of West City from Makoto's. It'll be a miracle if they deliver all of the pizzas I ordered in the thirty-minute time frame that they gave me. So you'll just have to wait!"

"Humph! How do I know you aren't making this up? Every other time you've ordered out this week the food has been in here when I decided to eat!" Crossing his arms in their usual fashion, Vegeta waiting for her answer.

"That's because I've been making sure to place orders right before your usual eating time! I did it so I wouldn't have to deal with you, like I am right now! I can't help it that you decided you were hungry before I made the order out for dinner, your Highness. I can only do so much, and no matter how much I might wish it, I'm not God, so go screw yourself dickwad!" She was so fed up with him! Ever since last week's events, she'd been avoiding him because she just knew that they wouldn't be able to have a civil conversation between the two of them. And she was beyond caring if her nasty words angered him or not. (Well, she did care, but sometimes she just didn't want to think about the consequences that her big mouth would land her in one day in the not so distant future). With that said, she gave Vegeta a dirty look and ran up the stairs as fast as her legs would carry her.

Vegeta looked on with yet another stunned expression on his face. Did she just tell him to screw himself? He growled in anger, but decided it was pointless to chase her. He had a feeling that if he cornered her again, his demons would take control and he'd end up doing something that he was sure neither of them wanted. Clenching his fists, he made his way to the couch and flopped himself down. Putting his hands behind his head, he disgustedly thought about how weak he was becoming around her. She was like some sort of weird drug that had gotten into his system. One that he was fighting a strange addiction to and he couldn't seem to get the upper hand. Deciding that is wasn't worth thinking about, he found the remote that Bulma had dropped on the floor when he had knocked her off of the couch. Flipping through the channels, he found a sumo wrestling match that looked somewhat entertaining. Settling in, he made himself comfortable while he waited for his food to arrive.

_Twenty five minutes later…_

Bulma bounded down the stairs with Muffin in tow. She had changed out of her work clothes and was now dressed in a really short jean skirt and a tight hot pink tank top that emphasized her womanly attributes. Running to the door, she let Muffin out and took up her station waiting for the delivery guy to show up.

Going upstairs and been good therapy for Bulma's anger at Vegeta. He could be such a jerk; but then again, she was just as bad, always fighting with him. It was just so easy to let her temper get the best of her, especially when she was around him. Sighing, she leaned up against the doorframe, and then smiled to herself. She was in such a good mood now that nothing could spoil it, not even Vegeta. She was determined to remain cheerful for the rest of the night, no matter what. Letting her mind drift to happy thoughts, she almost missed hearing the doorbell and her dog's excited barks signaling the arrival of the pizza man. Opening the door, she smiled when she saw the partial stack of pizzas the guy was holding. Vegeta was going to be in for a little surprise when he ate all of those pizzas. They packed an extra punch, and knowing Vegeta, he'd wolf down all thirteen before his mind would catch up with his stomach.

"Ms. Briefs?"

"Yeah, that's me!" The guy stared at her as though she were crazy for ordering so many pizzas, or else he thought she was really hot in her tight outfit. Seeing as he couldn't be much older than 17 or 18 and he had a really bad case of acne, Bulma hoped it was the former.

"Here's your pizza and can you tell your dog to get away from me? I'm afraid that I'm going to trip over him trying to haul all of your food in!"

"Oh, yeah. Sure. Muffin! Come here." The little dog stopped running around the poor pizza guys legs and gave Bulma a disappointed look before he made his way to her side. The guy handed Bulma the pizzas he had and then went out to his van to bring in the rest. Placing the hot pizza on the entryway table, Bulma waited for him to bring the rest into her house.

"How much do I owe you?" Bulma asked as the man put the rest of the pizzas on the pile. Bulma's mouth started to water as the enticing sent of pizza wafted up to her nostrils.

"It'll be 237 zeni."

Bulma nodded her head and then gave him her credit card. 'Man, this thing is getting a lot of use lately!' Bulma thought as she signed her name on his credit machine, making sure to give the guy a hefty tip for being speedy and having to deal with delivering such a large order. If he only knew that most of the order was going to one person, he'd probably crap his pants.

Nodding his head in thanks, the deliveryman left, and Bulma closed the door behind him. Muffin was still sitting obediently next to Bulma's legs and he looked sad that his new friend was leaving already.

"I can't believe what a good doggie you are Muffin! If only men could behave in a similar manner, I'd be in heaven!" With that, she grabbed a hold of a bunch of the pizzas and made her way back into the living room. Walking in, the first thing she saw was what looked to be a very fat baby in an oversized diaper.

Setting the pizzas down on the coffee table and wiping the sweat from her brow, Bulma stared at Vegeta.

"What in Kami's name are you watching?"

"What does it look like I'm watching? A fight!"

"Looks like two fat babies trying to squish each other. Don't tell me you're actually enjoying this!"

"So what if I am?" Vegeta actually thought sumo was about as entertaining as watching sand drizzle down a timekeeper. But it was the only thing on that was remotely interesting.

"Well, whatever floats your boat. Anyway, pizza's here! And you could help bring it in here, seeing as the majority of it is going to end up in your stomach!" Bulma turned to look at him and was surprised when he got up out of the couch and followed her to the foyer. 'What's with him? Is he sick?' she thought to herself.

Reaching the foyer, she turned around, surprised to see that Vegeta wasn't there behind her. Scratching her head and scrunching her eyebrows in confusion, it wasn't long before she heard his unmistakable voice coming from the hallway.

"**_WOMAN!"_**

"What now?" Bulma yelled as she made her way back to the living room area. She stopped and started to laugh at the sight that greeted her.

Vegeta was standing with his fists balled tightly giving a very happy Muffin a killer evil look. The little dog was running around Vegeta's legs, his tail wagging with excitement and affection at being near his other new best friend.

"Tell your dog to leave me alone or else I'll blast him to smithereens. And stop laughing at me!" Vegeta yelled out angrily.

"You will do no such thing Vegeta, unless you want me to make your dinner suddenly uneatable. Besides, he's just being friendly. He likes you!"

"Just call the mutt off! I don't care if he likes me. The feeling is _not_ mutual!"

"Somebody's not in a happy mood are they Muffie-wuffie? Come on Muffin, leave Vegeta alone." With that, Muffin gave a little bark and ran over to Bulma.

Eyeing the dog warily, Vegeta grunted when Bulma handed him the rest of his dinner. Following her back into the living room, he sat back down on the couch and proceeded to stuff large quantities of pizza down his gullet. The taste was phenomenal and his body went into food overdrive. It was a few moments later when he decided to take a breath and let out a huge disgusting belch that he noticed Bulma was still sitting in the living room.

"What are you still doing here?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm eating my supper! Anyway, it's my house. I can eat here if I want to. And don't you have any manners whatsoever Vegeta? People usually say excuse me after they let out a disgusting belch! Gross!" Wrinkling her nose, she looked at Vegeta expectantly.

"Look Woman, I prefer to eat alone and since I thought you had left, I didn't expect to be held accountable for my behavior!"

"Well, whatever. But it's still disgusting! And you call yourself a Prince!" Bulma shook her head and resumed eating her own pizza. Ignoring her, Vegeta took the hint and went back to scarfing his own meal. Before he knew it, nothing was left but a few crumbs and the empty pizza boxes. Reclining back into the couch, he rubbed his stomach and let out a sigh of contentment. Being full almost made him feel good. It was one of the few times of the day that his thoughts weren't directed at his failure at figuring out how to attain Super Saiyan. Looking over in Bulma's direction, he noticed she was still sitting in her chair and she had that stupid vacant look she seemed to sport a great deal of the time. Thankfully, her mutt was lying down next to her feet. He then noticed the outfit she was wearing. One of the first things he had caught onto about Bulma was that she tended to wear clothes that emphasized her female form. Usually, that didn't bother him, but ever since her challenge in the kitchen (and if he were honest with himself, even before then), he seemed to be paying more and more attention to her body. And in her current outfit, there was not denying her femininity.

"What in the great cosmos are you wearing Woman?"

"I'm wearing a shirt and skirt and some sandals, what does it look like I'm wearing? Why, do you like it? Does it make me look sexy?" Bulma looked at him with a sly expression on her face. It was just so fun ruffling Vegeta's feathers, she couldn't help it!

"Of course I don't like it! You look like a whore, Woman!"

"Whatever. You're just saying that because you think it looks good on me Vegeta!" With that, she deliberately jiggled her top and laughed when an unmistakable blush crept into Vegeta's cheeks. Who knew he was so modest? She started to laugh.

"You do like it! Don't deny it Vegeta. A blush tells everything!"

"What? I am not blushing! And why are you in such a good mood all of a sudden?" Vegeta asked as a way to change the subject. He wasn't going to admit that her lewd behavior was having any kind of effect on him.

"It's because….I'm going on a date! In a couple of nights!"

Vegeta stared at her. He wanted to laugh, thinking it was big joke. Who'd want to go on a date with Bulma? She was loud, obnoxious, opinionated and way too pushy for any self-respecting male to take seriously. But there was a part of him that was a little bit disappointed that she was already moving on. Only a small part, he told himself. Standing up, he moved towards the entrance of the living room deciding he needed to go back and work out in the GR. His stomach was starting to feel strange and he decided he needed to move around to make it feel normal again. Turning around, he leveled a taunting sneer at Bulma as a way to displace the uncomfortable realization that he didn't like the idea of her going out with someone.

"Who'd want to go on a date with you? They must be desperate!" With that, Vegeta walked out the doorway and headed towards the GR. He didn't make it very far when his stomach backfired and he felt like he was going to throw up.

Running to the lavatory, he proceeded to empty his stomach into an obliging toilet. Wiping his mouth in disgust, he angrily stomped into the living room were Bulma was still sitting looking slightly dejected.

"What did you do to that food, Bulma?" Vegeta asked angrily.

"Nothing! I had them put extra meat on it just like how you like it."

Stalking angrily over to her, he stared down at her. Sometimes he just wanted to throttle her, and this would be the perfect time to do it!

"You're lying to me Bulma!" Vegeta shouted. "I never, _ever_ get sick, and after eating the food you got me, I find myself with my head in a toilet! Answer me! **_What did you put in that food_**??"

Looking up at the enraged Prince, Bulma told him the truth. Part of it anyway.

"I ordered their super spicy meat pizza. You Saiyans eat almost anything. I didn't think your would react to it like that. The way you were inhaling it, I didn't think you even noticed how spicy it was!"

Growling at her, Vegeta backed away.

"If I'm sick the rest of the night Woman, you're going to be very sorry!"

"Deal with it! I was sick after you made me trip and hit my head, and I didn't threaten you! If you don't feel well, go lie down and take a basin with you in case you feel the urge to puke up again. I've got some Pepto-Bismol in my bathroom. Come on!" Getting up out of the chair, she motioned Vegeta to follow her up to her rooms. She was sort of feeling guilty. It was just a hunch that he wouldn't react to the spicy pizza very well, but she just thought it would give him heartburn! Going into her bathroom, she poured him a capful and gave it to him. Vegeta looked at the pink concoction warily and then swallowed the contents in one gulp. Only a grimace on his face said he thought the stuff was disgusting.

"This had better work!"

"It will Vegeta, it will! Come on. I always feel better when I lie down. Let's go to your room!"

"I don't need to lie down Woman! Just leave me alone!" With that, he tried to walk away quickly until his stomach reacted and he found himself in the process of doubling over. Catching himself, he straitened up, but not before Bulma caught sight of his display of weakness. And if anything pissed Vegeta off, it was when he exposed a weakness to a person who could exploit it.

Seeing his obvious discomfort, Bulma gave him an understanding look, and decided that he would do what she said. She really hadn't meant for him to get really sick. Only just a little sick. Walking over to where he was standing in her doorway, she decided to go with her no nonsense demeanor.

"You are going to your room this instance mister! You aren't in any condition to be traipsing down to the GR. Besides, with the way you've been working in there, you probably need a break anyway!" Grabbing a hold of his arm, she pulled him in the direction of his rooms, which were thankfully right next to her own.

Trying to resist her grip, Vegeta tried to pull away which only made his terrible stomach ache worse. 'She's going to be worse then normal if I go along with her little plan!' he thought grumpily. But she was right. He wasn't in any condition to be training in the GR. He couldn't imagine anything worse than throwing up in 475 times gravity and then landing in the stuff. He shuddered at the images that came to his mind. Giving in, he let Bulma pull him into his room. He lay down on his bed with his stomach on top of the mattress. He thought Bulma had left when he felt someone pull the covers on his bed over his body and put something cold and metallic next to his arm. Feigning sleep, Vegeta waited for her to leave.

"I'm sorry I made you sick Vegeta. I thought it would be funny if you got a little sick, but I guess I was just being vindictive. I hope you feel better." Bulma whispered. With that, she turned off the light in Vegeta's room and left. Her evening had seemed so promising, the excitement of her upcoming date buoying her spirits. But now she felt like a jerk, and for what? Because her prank had worked better than she had planned? Vegeta would have done the same thing! But then again, he had taken her up to her room. Walking back downstairs, she decided she needed a drink. She was getting too soft with Vegeta! Hopefully, her date would get her mind off of the jerk and onto more important things, namely her love life!

_Poor Vegeta! What does he think about Bulma's secret apology and her upcoming date? Is he going to get back at her for making him sick? To find out, you'll have to read the next chapter!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Hey everyone! Thanks for the positive reviews. Please keep reviewing and let me know if this story is getting too long and boring! Here's the next chappie!_

_Oh yeah, I don't own DBZ or any DBZ characters. So sad!_

_Chapter 8_

_The following morning…_

_**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BE…**_

Bulma's hand shot out from under the covers of her warm and comfy quilt, effectively silencing the offending piece of technology that had rudely awoken her from her slumber and the strange dreams that seemed to have haunted her sleep. Yawning loudly, she rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling above her. She mulled over her dreams, a practice that she usually didn't participate in. But as of late, her thoughts had been very preoccupied with her recent breakup and Vegeta's slightly odd behavior. These things together ended up in very strange unconscious thoughts that seemed to be surfacing more and more frequently in her dreams.

Last night's dream had been the strangest so far. She had been running through a deserted street looking for something when she had seen a light in a doorway that beckoned towards her. Walking towards the light, Bulma stepped into the doorway and found herself inside a crowded night club full of strange looking cowboys and short, sweaty men. Suddenly, in her dream, Bulma realized that she was supposed to be here at the bar to meet her blind date. Grossed out by the available males sitting at the bar, she had tried to leave when someone had grabbed her arm. Turning around, she found herself being solicited by one of the short, sweaty men who also happened to be wearing a cowboy hat. In her dream, Bulma had asked the guy if he was her date and he had said yes. Horrified and disappointed that her date was so ugly, Bulma tried to get away but the guy wouldn't let go of her hand.

Not that her dream wasn't already strange, but at this point it got even weirder or more disturbing, depending on how Bulma looked at it. As she was trying to get away from the short, sweaty cowboy, a flash of light cut between her and the gross man. Bulma felt herself being pushed away from the man and watched as the flash of light resolved into Yamcha. In the dream, Yamcha started to fight with the man, but Bulma suddenly found herself being yanked out of the bar into the night by something else. Relieved at being rescued from the creepy guy in the bar and distressed because she was yet again in the dark creepy street being flung around by the lord knew what, Bulma tried to struggle against the force that was dragging her down the street. At this point, she suddenly found herself backed up against a wall with none other than Vegeta standing in front of her. In the dream, Bulma started apologizing for poisoning him when Vegeta put his finger to her mouth to silence her. Suddenly, Bulma noticed that he was smirking at her and that he had….**_monstrously huge fangs_** coming out of his mouth, like he was some sort of vampire about to suck her blood! Bulma started screaming when Vegeta lowered his head towards her neck and that was when she woke up to the sound of her alarm and her heart pounding in her head.

Rubbing her eyes with her hand and yawing once again, she sat up and stretched her arms out.

"I have really got to stop thinking about those two. Even my dreams are going haywire and that can't be a good sign for my sanity!" Bulma muttered to herself as she threw her covers away from her body and stuck her legs out over the side of the bed. Standing up, Bulma yawned again then put on her bathrobe, which was flung carelessly across a chair. Turning around towards her bed, she saw Muffin still curled up in a little ball at the foot of her bed. That dog could sleep like the living dead!

"Wake up Muffie! Time to get up!" Reaching over, Bulma shook the covers on her bed until Muffin was awake and moving. The little dog jumped off the bed and stretched, sticking his little pink tongue out as he yawned. Seeing that he was finally awake, Bulma headed for her door, opened it, and made her way downstairs into the family area of her house. As she passed Vegeta's room, she noticed his door was closed. Still feeling guilty about last night, she thought about checking up on the Prince, but changed her mind in case he was in there and she accidentally woke him up or something. She shuddered at the thought of having to deal with a cranky and possibly ill Vegeta first thing in the morning. No, it was probably a wise decision on her part to wait until she saw him in another vicinity besides his rooms.

Bulma continued down the stairs and turned to let Muffin outside before he decided to relieve himself in the house. With that task done, she made her way to the kitchen to see how the progress was coming along. Deciding that she needed a day off from the lab, Bulma had slept in until 10 am. Crossing her fingers that that workmen where almost done, Bulma pushed the kitchen door open.

Seeing her in her bathrobe, a beefy looking worker whistled a catcall at Bulma. Never one to pass up harmless flirtation, especially since the guy was blatantly teasing her, Bulma entered the kitchen sashaying her hips seductively and batting her eyelashes at the attentive male.

"Hey honey, how's it going in here?" Bulma asked innocently as she walked up to the worker. Looking around her, she was impressed with the progress that had been made in the kitchen. The ceiling and roof were repaired, the walls were fixed, the new giant fridge was installed _and_ you couldn't even tell that a week ago, it looked like a bomb had gone off.

The worker winked at her as she made her way closer. He was totally hot in Bulma's estimation. He had big muscles, was clad in tight jeans and a white T-shirt, had a nice tan skin, plus blue eyes and blonde hair that any girl would die for. And he didn't smell like sour BO, which spoke for his personal hygiene habits. 'But he's probably a womanizer, a drunk, or he has some dirty secret lingering in his past. That would just be my luck!' Bulma thought negatively.

Walking within touching distance, Bulma waited for his answer.

"That depends, sweetheart. If you say you're going to stay around for a while, well then, things are going good. If you're going to leave in a few minutes, well then…" Shrugging, the worker trailed off his sentence and flashed Bulma a blinding white smile.

Deciding the guy was probably full of shit, Bulma decided to get down to business. I mean, she hadn't combed her hair, she still had that ugly bruise on her forehead, and she was dressed in an old, overly fluffy and large bathrobe. The only person who would find her remotely attractive in her current getup would have to be a totally desperate guy. Someone who couldn't get a date unless the girl in question was using him. Someone like….Krillin! And this guy was the complete opposite of Krillen! At least she thought he was, until he proved her wrong.

"I just came by to see how far along you guys are. I spoke to the head construction worker yesterday, and he said you should be done by this afternoon." Bulma stated matter of factly, waiting again for the guy's answer.

But instead of answering her, the guy began to openly leer at her! She couldn't believe it. Yeah, the guy was a total womanizer and because she didn't exactly look her best, she bet he was only checking her out because he knew she had lots of zeni.

"Yo, is there anything going on in that brain of yours? _Hello_?" Bulma waved her arms in front of his face. "I asked you a question! Well if you won't answer me, I'll just ask someone else, _and_ I'll tell your boss how lazy you are!" Bulma stated before she started to turn and walk away from the jerk. What was it with her and men lately? It was just jerk after jerk after _jerk!_ She was hoping and praying her date tomorrow would be a lot better than the men she'd had to deal with in the past week.

Just as she was about to turn around, she felt something nab her arm. Going on the defensive, Bulma quickly turned around and slapped the guy hard across his good-looking face with her other free hand. She couldn't believe his arrogance and idiocy. He was working for her, for Kami's sake, and he couldn't be that dense that he didn't know whom she was or that it was unacceptable to accost strange females on the job. Well, then again, maybe he was. Instead of letting go, he started to squeeze her arm hard enough to make Bulma wince in pain. 'Great! Another bruise!' "Let go you big oaf! Do you have any idea who you're dealing with? If you want to walk out of here with your body still intact, I suggest you let go…._of…me_….**_IMMEDIATELY_**!" Bulma shouted at the idiot who was becoming more and more unattractive as the seconds ticked by.

"Shut up bitch! I know who you are! You're the biggest spoiled brat in West City! And anyway, how are you planning on tearing my body apart? You can't even get away from my grip. Now listen up. You can just relax and enjoy this. It'll only take a few minutes and then we can go our separate ways." He licked his lips at her and gave her that stupid blinding white grin she had thought was so attractive at first.

"Forget it! You're sick and out of you're mind if you think I'm going to let you do anything to me. If you so much as lay another finger on my body, you're going to be sorry!"

"What are you planning on doing? Calling for help? Well, all the other guys are on break. And we haven't finished hooking up the surveillance system or the communicators. We're going to do that when the others get back. So you're stuck with me all alone, honey!"

Bulma stuck her tongue out at the creep. "I am not you're honey! At least get that straight. You can't be serious about going through with this? I'll call the police!"

"I've got it all figured out. You wouldn't want the embarrassment of everyone in West City finding out that you can't stand breaking up with someone…" He trailed off, looking at her with a stupid grin on his face.

"You'd blackmail me? That is just sick!" Bulma stated as she started to struggle against the jerk. Seeing as he wasn't loosening his grip, Bulma started shrieking the first name that came to her head at the top of her lungs, not paying attention to whom she was screaming for.

"**_VEEEEGGGGEEEEETTTTAAAAA_**! **HELP ME, PLEASE!**"

_Further away inside Capsule Corporation…._

Vegeta pushed his way out of his bathroom. He was going to slowly kill and torture Bulma. No one, _no one_, had ever had the audacity to poison him. Yet he had somehow underestimated Bulma's capability to be a vindictive bitch! She should be bowing before him and doing the things he asked her to do without talking back, and yet she still somehow managed to turn the tables on him! After all, she owed him for saving her life and throwing out that good for nothing looser that called himself a warrior, Yamcha. He shook his head angrily. Looking at his alarm clock, he saw that the time was 10:20 am. He growled in disgust. Whatever she had fed him last night had put him out of commission for much longer than he would have thought possible.

He shuddered, remembering the torture his body had been put through during the night. Up until early this morning, he'd been running to the bathroom almost continually. It was disgusting! The pink stuff Bulma had made him take had taken an edge off of his stomachache enough for him to lay down and try to sleep it off. But at around 2 am his stomach had attacked him with a vengeance. Even now, it didn't feel one hundred percent right, but at least he wasn't running in and out of the bathroom. To top it all off, when he'd finally gotten some sleep, his dreams all seemed to be centered on Bulma. Most disturbing of all, they seemed to going in the direction of mating with the harpy! That was not a good sign.

"Stupid Woman!" Vegeta growled angrily as he went through his neat and orderly closet looking for something suitable to wear. Pushing items out of the way, he settled on some gym shorts and a white sleeveless undershirt for the simple fact that they were comfortable. Rummaging around on the floor of the closet, he found a pair of tennis shoes that Bulma had given him. Angrily thrusting his feet into them, Vegeta kicked the closet door shut with a vengeance, imagining it was Bulma's face that was getting the brunt of his frustration.

"Ha! And if she thinks that because she gave me a vile tasting concoction _and_ an apology when she didn't think I was listening that I'm going to leave her alone, she has another thing coming to her! I'm a Saiyan Prince, not some pathetic weakling! I'll make her life miserable. I'll hound her, push her around and make sure that once and for all, she'll know who's boss around here." He knew that she had been fixing the GR religiously as a way to avoid him, but he didn't care. From now on, he wouldn't allow her to stay in hiding. He'd find her and drag her out himself if he needed something. And by God, she would do it or else he'd…he'd blast her once and for all!

Still growling under his breath, Vegeta stomped angrily out of his rooms into the open corridor outside. He needed some fresh air and some exercise. Deciding it was probably wise not to push his luck, Vegeta had decided to forgo training in the Gravity Room yet again. All though this time, it had nothing to do with any damage he had done to it.

"Ugh! At this rate, I'll never attain Super Saiyan and never be able to beat that baka Kakarot! And it's all that asinine, headstrong and bossy female's _fault!_" Stomping down the stairs to head outside, Vegeta's mind began to fill up with images of how weak he seemed to be getting. If his Father could see him now, he probably would have disowned him for his seeming lack of ability and how he was having trouble getting the upper hand over Bulma. All of these images caused Vegeta's inner anger to escalate to the point where he really, _really_ wanted to blow something up. It was just so hard to be good sometimes!

Not trusting the infuriating woman to find him something to eat, Vegeta decided to forgo breakfast. He was also afraid that if he tried to get something down into his stomach, it would just come right back up again. It was completely disgusting! He was about to walk past the kitchen that had been under construction since he had blasted it when he stopped dead in his tracks.

"**_VEEEGEEEETTTAAA! HELP MEEEEEE!"_**

There was no mistaking the voice coming from the vicinity of the kitchen.

"Huh, she can deal with her problem herself. She probably just broke a fingernail or ran into something and hit her head again. Well, I'm not helping her out. Forget it!" Vegeta muttered angrily to himself. He was just about to open the door to head out into the warm sunshine when he heard her shrieking for his help again. And this time, she sounded…. different. Desperate almost. That strange feeling that he had had when Bulma had tripped on the ceiling tile came back full force, and before he even knew what he was doing, he blasted the kitchen door off of its hinges and barreled into the room only to find Bulma backed into a corner with a big, ugly male touching her body in a very, _very_ inappropriate manner.

"Get your hands off of my **_WOMAN!_**" Roared Vegeta at the offending male.

The construction worker loosened up his grip on Bulma and turned around to see who had rudely interrupted his 'play time' with the tart. Seeing that the guy was at least a foot shorter than himself and certainly no where near as built as he was, he let out a chuckle. And the guy's hair! It looked like he had stuck his finger into a light socket. Didn't he have any sense of style whatsoever?

"And what if I don't? We're just having a little fun, ain't that right _honey_?" The worker said as he squeezed Bulma's arm and leered at her cleavage appreciatively.

"I already told you, I am _not_ your honey! You'd better lay off, or you're really going to be sorry." Bulma said with more confidence than she actually felt. It was heartening to see Vegeta blast through the door, but he did have a habit of saying one thing and then acting in a different manner altogether. 'He's probably still pissed at me for making him sick. It would just be like Vegeta to let the guy have his way with me, and then watch from the sidelines just for spite!' She thought with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Vegeta glared at her. Bulma's stomach did another flip-flop, especially when she saw the look in Vegeta's coal black eyes. She had never seen that look before, but she'd heard about it from Krillen and Gohan. It was the look he got when he was out for blood. And she hoped it wasn't her blood he was after.

"Shut up Woman! For once in your life, be quiet and do as I SAY!" He then turned his cold stare to the man who was still holding Bulma.

"She _is _right. You _are_ going to be very sorry. No one touches what is mine and gets away with it in one piece. You might think about that before we continue." Grinning evilly, Vegeta put himself into a fighting stance, readying himself for an attack. This baka had no idea what he was up against.

"Come off it. She's yours? Are you serious? You must be pretty desperate to want her for keeps!" The guy thrust his head back and laughed until his sides shook. All the while, Bulma kept giving him dirty looks and Vegeta just waited patiently for his opening.

"And you're really serious about fighting me? Small fry, you don't have a chance against me! I'm an amateur wrestler and a professional weight trainer. I eat guys like you for breakfast!" He flashed Vegeta one of his toothy grins. He couldn't believe the idiot was serious! And all over a stupid woman!

"Haven't you heard the phrase that size isn't everything? Well, you're about to find out its true meaning!" This guy was unbelievable! His power level was pathetic, not much more than Bulma's. And if size and body build meant everything to him, he wouldn't be acting in such a cocky manner if he had seen Vegeta kill Nappa when he first arrived here on Earth. Nappa had been twice the size of Vegeta and a good deal taller than this idiot who didn't know his head from his ass.

Letting go of Bulma's arm, the guy punched her so she wouldn't get away. He then turned around and was shocked to find Vegeta standing right in front of him. How the hell had he gotten that close that fast without him hearing anything? Backing up a bit, he calmed himself down and grinned at the little man standing before him.

Vegeta stared at the man darkly, a cold smile on his lips. "You really shouldn't have done that. I like my property to be in good condition. Any harm to it is an insult to me."

"I think you're crazy man! I ain't not saint, but at least I don't claim women as my personal property!" With that, the guy lunged for Vegeta. Thinking he could clock the guy a good one and get back to the business at hand before his co-workers returned, he was surprised when the short guy calmly stepped out of his way. Not ready for such an evasive move, he almost ran into the opposite wall before he could stop his momentum. Turning around, he yelled out angrily to Vegeta.

"What the hell did you do that for? You aren't supposed to move out of the way in a fight. Only a chicken does that!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Just hold still so I can get a good shot in! I'm on a time restraint here."

"Like this?" Vegeta asked as he stood his ground calmly in front of the moron.

"Yeah, just like that!" With that, he ran at Vegeta again, pushing his fist out and aiming for Vegeta's nose. He let out a yell in triumph when the idiot in front of him didn't even move a muscle. It wasn't until he saw what looked like a blur in front of the short guy's face that he knew he was in trouble.

"Hmm. And here I thought you were such a great fighter. After all, you did say you were a professional weight trainer, didn't you? I'm saddened. I thought I might actually have some fun against you." Vegeta said sarcastically as he held onto the man's clenched fist.

"Hey, come on! Let me go!" The man asked. Try as he might, he couldn't pull out of the short guy's grip. He couldn't even budge.

"Why should I let you go? You didn't let her go when she asked, now did you? I'm just returning the favor." With that, Vegeta began to increase the pressure on the guy's hand until he was screaming in agony and begging for mercy. Making sure he had broken every bone in the man's hand, Vegeta let him go.

"My hand!" the guy yelled. "You broke my beautiful hand!" Suddenly realizing that the guy in front of him wasn't normal, he decided to make an escape. Running for the door, he almost made it when something blurred in front of him, resolving into none other than Vegeta.

"Going somewhere? You're nothing but a coward!" With that, Vegeta punched him hard in the face and sent him crashing into the opposite wall. Phasing in front of the man, he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke the life out of him. He didn't even really know what he was doing. The rage inside of him was beginning to consume him. It wasn't until he heard Bulma's voice that part of him snapped back to reality.

"Vegeta! Don't kill him! You're going to get blood all over my new kitchen! And I don't want to have to explain to the police officer why you should be let off for murdering someone!" She was shocked. She couldn't believe it. It was like Vegeta had snapped when the guy had clobbered her. It just didn't make any sense, but she was grateful.

"Huh, he isn't even worth the effort." With that, he dropped the guy onto the floor. Brushing his hands off on his shirt, he walked over to where Bulma was standing shakily by the refrigerator. Before he could even think about what he had just done or could say anything to her about how many times over she owed him, Bulma leapt at him and wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug and started sobbing. Not ready for the onslaught, Vegeta backed up and then found himself putting his arms around her as well, just to steady her, he told himself. He didn't even catch himself rubbing her back in an awkward motion as a way to comfort the sobbing female in his arms. No one had ever put that much trust in him to ever get this close before and it threw him off guard.

"Oh V..V..Vegeta!" Bulma sobbed onto his shoulder, her grip tight around his neck. "I thought.. I thought.. I thought he was going to…to…hurt me!"

"Calm down Woman." Vegeta said gruffly. He gently tried to pull away from her grip, but to no avail. Every time he tried to push her away, she just held on to him even tighter. Sighing, he tried to decide what to do with the hysterical woman in his arms at the same time that he was trying to figure out how he had managed to get himself in this position when just moments ago, he was thinking of strangling the damn female.

"If..if..if you wouldn't have come… Oh th..th..thank you Vegeta! Thank you, thank you, _thank _you for saving me from that thing!" Before she even knew what she was doing, Bulma kissed Vegeta on the cheek and then promptly blushed when she saw the strange expression that was on his face. Letting go of him, she sank to the floor and stared at the unconscious man Vegeta had so efficiently dealt with. It was _almost_ scary how efficiently. She also realized that what seemed to have taken an eternity probably only happened over the course of five minutes. Wiping the tears off of her face with the sleeve of her bathrobe, Bulma was surprised, no _shocked_, when Vegeta came over to her and sat down next to her. It was like he was waiting for her to get a grip on herself. Anyway she looked at the situation, it was completely out of Vegeta's character. Trying to make light of the situation, Bulma spoke up.

"Well, at least you didn't destroy the kitchen this time around. Just the door, but those construction guys can fix it in a jiffy!"

"Huh, whatever. Like I care anyway!" he muttered tersely.

"I'm just saying Vegeta. But hey, look on the bright side! The kitchen is almost done and my parents should be back by tomorrow. You won't have to worry about me poisoning you ever again!" 'Real smart,' Bulma thought. 'He's acting almost nice, and you have to possibly blow the situation by bringing that up again!' Bulma winced as the words came out of her mouth.

"Humph. You're lucky you're even alive after that little stunt you pulled. I should have just let that guy have is way with you. Then maybe you'd finally learn your place!" Vegeta answered gruffly, but without the usual bite that accompanied his words.

"Yeah, I know. It was pretty low of me to do that. But I honestly didn't think you would have such a strong reaction! You still don't look so good though. Are you okay, Vegeta?" Bulma asked out of concern.

"What do you care? Just stay out of it. You did enough damage last night." Vegeta answered grumpily.

"Well, I don't know if it really matters, but I am really sorry about that Vegeta. Can't we just call a truce? I really don't think you're as mean as you make yourself out to be." Besides, it would make her life a lot easier if the two of them could just get along.

Suddenly standing up, Vegeta stared at Bulma. "Just get this straight in your head Woman. I am not a nice person, nor will I ever be one. Being nice is for idiots like Kakarot. It makes you stupid. I've killed more people than you can imagine, and I enjoyed doing it. I am a Prince from a warrior race, not some peace loving imbecile!"

Looking up at him, Bulma felt sort of sad for Vegeta. Why couldn't he see that being nice didn't make you weak? It made you strong because you had convictions and somewhere to place your faith and strength. She was sure Son had turned Super Saiyan because he knew that the people he cared about were being hurt. Maybe if Vegeta could just see that, he would finally have a chance to do what she knew he had the ability to do. And then she realized where her thoughts were going. Pushing them out of her mind, she sighed. Vegeta, as her friend? Who was she even kidding? The guy didn't even know the meaning of the word friendship, yet he had somehow managed to save her two times now from psycho maniac jerks! It was weird to say the least.

"Fine Vegeta. You can think what you want."

"Good. At least we understand each other. And now, you owe me even more for saving you from that guy. You're more trouble than you're worth."

"Well, what can I say? I try!" She flashed him a watery grin.

"Huh," Vegeta grunted as his only reply.

"I know! You can go on a date with me as a reward for saving my life!" Bulma said teasingly.

"You call that a reward? I'd rather face off against ten Friezas than go on a date with you! Besides," Vegeta sneered at her, "Aren't you supposedly going on a date with some moron tomorrow anyway? I wouldn't want to ruin your appreciation for other potential mates."

Standing up on shaky legs, Bulma just grinned at Vegeta.

"You think you're that hot or something? Well, sorry to burst your bubble Vegeta, but I happen to like tall, muscular beach babes, not short guys with poor personal hygiene."

"Whatever, Woman. If that's the case, why didn't you just let that guy have his way with you? He happens to meet your qualifications." Vegeta jerked his head in the direction of the unconscious man on the floor.

"Because he was a jerk, that's why! And just like you, I _have_ standards."

"That's why you were mated to that moronic Z-Warrior? Some standards!"

"Hey, that's pretty low Vegeta! I met Yamcha when I was a stupid kid! And we weren't mated! Besides which, I just think you're jealous about me going on that date. That's why you were so nasty to me last night and why you keep going on about me not having the looks to go on a date with someone. You can deny it all you want Vegeta. I wasn't born yesterday, you know! You exhibit all the signs of a guy who is attracted to someone but doesn't know how to express it!"

"And maybe, _Woman_, you happen to be attracted to _me_. You show all the signs that you want me as your mate!" Vegeta shut his mouth with an audible click after he realized what had just come out of it! How could he have said that out loud, to her, of all people? He inwardly groaned.

"What? What are you talking about?" Bulma looked at Vegeta, surprise etched into her features. "Explain yourself, mister!"

"I'm not explaining anything. Besides which, we have company." With that, Bulma looked over to where the construction workers where coming in from the outside door, returning from their overlong break.

"What happened in here? Hulk!" One of the guys yelled and ran to the man laying on the floor.

"He tried to attack me, and my house guest rescued me from him." Bulma said evenly. She also realized at that same moment that she was still dressed in her bathrobe and pajamas. She blushed with embarrassment.

"I told you it was a bad idea to leave him in here alone. You know how he is with girls!" One of the workers stated.

"We're sorry, Ms. Briefs! We'll fix the damages free of charge and take 50 percent off of your bill!" The foreman of the crew said with obvious unease.

"That's fine, but I'm still going to get my security to call the police and press charges against him. And you probably had better call an ambulance. I don't think he's going to be getting up very soon!"

"Fine! No problem, Ms. Briefs."

With that, Bulma made her move to finally leave the kitchen, with Vegeta trailing behind her.

"Well, I'm going to call security from my room." Bulma said awkwardly to Vegeta.

"Why are you telling me? I don't care. I'm leaving and I don't know when I'll be back Woman, so don't pine for me while I'm gone!"

"Like I would anyway!" Bulma said with a laugh in her voice. With that, they went their separate ways; Bulma towards her rooms and Vegeta out the door. On her way up the stairs, Bulma realized that if it hadn't been for Vegeta, she didn't know what she would have done. He was acting strangely, but she had a feeling that there was something more to his behavior then he was letting on. She had to get to the bottom of it! And if she knew anything about Vegeta, it would be a long, difficult road before he let her in on any of his secrets! Smiling slyly to herself, she finished walking to her room thinking about how much fun it would be to solve this little mystery, and for the time being, forgetting about the date she was supposed to have tomorrow night.

_Whew, another chapter done! I hope Vegeta wasn't too OOC. I'm trying to keep the two of them as in character as possible. I'm not going to say anything about the next installment, because my mind keeps running away with possibilities! Please review!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Well, here's the next chapter! Thanks for all the nice reviews. Please keep reviewing! I appreciate all feedback!_

_P.S. I'm not a mechanical genius like Bulma is, so please forgive any misinformation that might be presented! _

_Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ_

_Chapter 9_

_The following day…_

Bulma was down in her lab puttering around with one of the inventions that she had been working on for what seemed like all of eternity. Sticking her tongue out of the side of her mouth in concentration, she tried to manipulate the tiny wires that she was in the process of fusing to the main circuit board of her creation.

"Ouch! God damn it!" Bulma yelled when she got a shock from a stray spark that had come off of her welding arch. Throwing the circuit board none to gently back onto the table in front of her, she got up and wiped the sweat of concentration off of her brow.

A technician across the room looked over at Bulma in concern. "Are you alright, Ms. Briefs?" she asked as Bulma walked over to the sink in the corner of the room to wash her hands.

"Yeah, I'm fine Hoshi. Just my pride is wounded! I can't seem to get the damn thing to work and I can't even seem to fix the stupid problem that's causing it to malfunction. I'm going out for a break!" She had been working on a device that could harvest energy efficiently from raw, organic materials like wood to help solve the problem of the rising cost of energy. She'd put off working on it for the last few months because of the constant babysitting involved in having Vegeta as a houseguest. With him around, her work had centered on helping her Dad fix the GR and any other device that Vegeta had the presence of mind to destroy. Shaking her head, Bulma walked out of Capsule Corporation's main entrance and headed towards her family's private residence. The day was gorgeous. The sun was out and there wasn't a thunderhead in the sky. Taking advantage of the weather, Bulma decided to go and sit in one of the gardens that surrounded her parents' property.

Sitting herself down in the soft grass, she looked around at her surroundings. She wasn't too far away from the Gravity Room. It was strangely silent, another reminder that Vegeta still hadn't returned from where ever he had taken off to yesterday. Lying back in the grass, Bulma spread her arms out behind her and stared at the fluffy, white clouds that raced across the sky.

"I wonder where he disappeared to yesterday. Oh, well. He's a big boy and he's more than capable of taking care of himself." Ever since yesterday, Bulma's mind had been preoccupied with trying to figure out Vegeta and if actually _did_ like her. He was so hard to understand. Or at least, _lately_ he was hard to understand. Before, it had been all too easy for Bulma to dislike him and she hadn't cared one iota if he liked her or not, either. But recently, her perception of Vegeta was starting to shift subtly. She really couldn't tell when it had started to happen. Yeah, he was still an arrogant ass wipe. She didn't think that would ever change. Oh, well. She wasn't going to lose sleep over him.

Letting out a sigh, she focused her attention to the date she was going on tonight. She had never actually met the guy, seeing as they had hooked up over an anonymous internet dating site. Bulma knew it was a little dicey (okay, _really_ dicey) to meet up with guys that way, but she didn't have a whole lot of experience with men besides Yamcha and there was a time factor involved. If she wanted to find someone fast, the Internet was the way to go.

Bulma was excited about her date and if she was honest with herself, just a little bit apprehensive as well. The dream she had had the other night had freaked her out, and then there was the plain and simple fact that her luck with men seemed to be nil. She was hoping her date wouldn't turn out to be like the guy in her dream or the jerk that had assaulted her in the kitchen yesterday. She didn't want to have to hold out that Vegeta would come to her rescue for a third time. It was starting to get to the point of ridiculousness, and she _really_ did not want Vegeta breathing down her neck about how she owed him big time! Ugh, a girl could only take so much!

Shifting her gaze to admire the flower gardens around her, she let out another long sigh. Clearing her mind of Vegeta, Bulma let her thoughts center back on to the mystery man she was going to meet tonight. Her secret plan had been to meet up with someone this way, but she hadn't wanted to let her parents or Vegeta in on it, no way! Vegeta already had insulted her enough about her looks and if he really knew how she had met the guy who was supposed to be her date, he'd probably never let her live it down if the date ended up being a disaster. _And_ she didn't even want to think about what her Mother would say since she seemed to have it in her head that she and Vegeta would make the perfect couple.

Humming to herself and letting her mind drift again, she began thinking about the mystery man she would finally see for the first time.

'I wonder what he looks like. I already told him about my fading bruise, so at least that won't be shocking, but he didn't give me any details about his appearance at all! At least he seems to be nice and we're meeting at a nice restaurant.' Thinking about her date somehow turned her thoughts back to Vegeta.

'Hmm, I wonder what kind of place Vegeta would take a girl out on a date to. He'd probably make his girlfriend go watch live action fighting matches or something barbaric like that. Heck, he probably wouldn't even take a girl anywhere except for maybe his bedroom. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen him go anywhere that required interacting with other people. Come to think of it, he doesn't really even have anything to do with the Z-Squad when we all get together. He just stands off by himself. He'd probably be a really lousy date and I'd feel sorry for any girl that ended up going out with him. Knowing Vegeta, the only thing he'd want from his date would be sex anyways.'

Looking at the clouds in the sky one last time, Bulma got up and started to make her way back to the lab. Her mind was still trying to figure out the mystery that was Vegeta. She found it highly unlikely that Vegeta would ever pair up with anyone. For one thing, he didn't particularly like people. Okay, that was an understatement. He _despised_ people. "We're all nothing but pathetic weaklings to him. Hell, if he would have had his way when he first came to Earth, we'd all be dead!" Bulma muttered to herself as she walked up the path back to the corporate headquarters. She tried to picture him with a girlfriend and the image that popped into her head was more than a bit scary. To tell the truth, the only kind of female she could see him with was someone who wasn't afraid of him, could talk back to him and wouldn't constantly give into his demands. Someone sort of like…herself!

'Here I go again!' Bulma thought as she opened the door to Capsule Corp. 'I don't want to be Vegeta's girlfriend so why am I even thinking about the possibility? No, he's crazy if he thinks I like him. I think it's the other way around, and I'm going to make sure it stays that way!' With that, she made her way back to her project, focusing her thoughts on finally being able to get it to work enough so she could start performing diagnostics and test runs on it. Not having Vegeta around for the day definitely had its advantages.

_Meanwhile, somewhere near Mt. Pazou…_

Vegeta flew in a line that was taking him ever closer to the home of his arch-rival. He'd spent the rest of the day before recovering from his bout of poisoning in the solitude of the mountains away from the annoying blue haired minx who was making his life turn upside down. He was still angry with himself for telling her he thought she wanted to be his mate. To him, it was as good as admitting that there was something going on between the two of them. And since he was still pretty much in denial of the fact that he found Bulma to be more than attractive and that some of her statements had come surprisingly close to the truth, he was desperate to regain control of the situation. In all honesty, he didn't really like her, but he had never had much experience with females to start with and she was an enigma to him. Maybe that's why he was fixated on her. At any rate, his training had taken a steep dive in the last few weeks, and he needed some sort of external motivation to get his thoughts back to where they belonged: squarely on attaining Super Saiyan, defeating the Androids and then taking his revenge against Kakarot.

Feeling out for Kakarot's power level, Vegeta veered off to the left. He was getting closer to his quarry and he could sense the tremendous power that his rival was putting out at the moment. Clenching his fists in anger at his own seeming lack of ability and the fact that Kakarot still seemed to be getting stronger, Vegeta increased his speed until he finally came within landing range of the training Saiyan.

Landing, he stood off to the side and stared contemptuously at Goku, who was simultaneously blocking attacks from his offspring and the Namek.

Sensing another strong power level, Goku moved his head and saw Vegeta starring at him from the ground.

"Hey Vegeta!" Goku waved at Vegeta, which left Piccolo and Gohan a large opening to attack the stronger Saiyan. Vegeta snickered when Piccolo landed a perfect punch to the back of the idiot's head causing him to temporarily lose concentration and fall to the ground.

"Kakarot, for supposedly being such a great fighter, you have the brains of an Idjirian cockroach!" Vegeta taunted Goku, his trademark smirk plastered across his face.

"Well, I was just being friendly!" Goku said as he rubbed his head.

Taking the opening that was presented before him, Piccolo spoke up.

"What do you want, Vegeta?"

Goku was far to trusting and Piccolo knew there was a reason behind the appearance of the Saiyan Prince. Not wanting to deal with any surprises, he decided to take the initiative sensing that if it were left up to Goku, they'd never get down to business.

"I came to train with that baka over there though it's really none of your concern what my motives are." Vegeta answered back coolly.

"Really, you actually want to train with me?" Goku asked with a bit of surprise in his voice. Even though he thought of Vegeta as a somewhat tenuous friend, he had surmised correctly that Vegeta did not feel the same way about him. He also knew that Vegeta was more than a little sensitive about the fact that he still couldn't reach Super Saiyan, though Goku knew that he had to have the ability to do so.

"Not particularly, but you seem to be the only possible candidate for a sparring partner, and I must say, the prospect of beating you up to a bloody pulp does seem rather enjoyable." Vegeta stated with his arms crossed in their usual fashion.

Gohan looked over to where his dad was standing. He had a feeling that his dad was excited about the prospect of sparring with Vegeta and he didn't want anything bad to happen to him. Screwing up the courage, he spoke up.

"But Daddy! You know what he was like on Planet Namek and you just got back. I don't want to lose you again!" Gohan stated miserably. He didn't like or trust Vegeta. And he had a feeling the Mr. Piccolo had the same idea as himself. He was glaring at both Vegeta and Goku with a look that clearly said he thought Goku was an idiot if he went off by himself with the Saiyan Prince. Piccolo had heard the entirety of the conversation that the mysterious youth had had with Goku, and he wasn't sure that Goku would be able to keep all of Trunk's secrets without somehow spilling them to Vegeta accidentally.

Irritated by the interruption, Vegeta turned his attention back to the whining boy. If anything annoyed him, it was the bawling prattle of some oversensitive child. Staring at Gohan, Vegeta's eyebrow twitched with displeasure. "Stop sniveling brat! If you know what's good for you, you'll run along and go wet yourself in private!"

Putting his guard up, Gohan clenched his fists and landed near to where Vegeta was standing.

"I don't care what you say! You should just leave my Daddy alone!" Gohan yelled.

Giving Gohan a final glare, Vegeta turned his attention back to Goku. He didn't have time to sit and listen to foolish emotional outbursts from weakling brats.

"Well, are you in or are you out Kakarot? I don't have all of the next century to wait around for your decision."

"Of course I'm in! This'll be lots of fun!" Goku giggled happily. Sparring with Vegeta would be a real challenge because Goku knew that Vegeta would take all attacks he did against him seriously and that Vegeta wouldn't hold back either. Goku also wasn't really afraid of Vegeta trying to pull anything treacherous. He could sense that Vegeta knew as well as everyone else that Goku was a key asset in the fight against the Androids. And maybe it really did mean that Vegeta was softening his view about him.

"But Daddy!" Gohan whined.

Turning around to fully face the annoying child, Vegeta moved close enough so that he could stare Gohan strait in the eyes. "I thought I told you to shut up! Your concern for your father is pathetic. I'd think you'd have a little more pride in him than that, even if he is a first rate moron." Then turning around, he motioned at Goku with his head and blasted off back in the direction he had come from. Honestly, trying to get anywhere with that trio was almost close to impossible!

"Hey Vegeta, wait up!" Goku yelled as he tried to catch up to the smaller Saiyan. "Where exactly are we going?" Goku asked once he was close enough to Vegeta to be able to make conversation.

"First we are going to Capsule Corp." Vegeta muttered. "And then, we.."

"All right! Does that mean we get to spar together in that Gravity Room Bulma and Dr. Briefs built? Is it similar to the one I trained in on my way to Namek?" Goku asked excitedly. He'd heard all about the Gravity Room from Yamcha, especially about the part where Vegeta had accidentally blown it up and Bulma had come to the rescue. Goku smiled inwardly, thinking about when Vegeta and Bulma would finally hook up with each other. 'Poor Vegeta, he has no idea what's in store for him!" Although, to tell the truth, the idea of Vegeta being a father was a pretty far fetched idea. Since his mind was so preoccupied with his fantasies about the romance between Vegeta and Bulma, it took him a while to realize that Vegeta was glaring at him again with an expression on his face that spoke of his disgust for Goku.

"What's wrong Vegeta? You look like you swallowed some bad kimchi!"

"Huh, only an idiot like you would come up with an analogy like that. First, let's get something strait between us. I do not like to be interrupted. Get that into your pea sized brain."

"Uh, sorry Vegeta. Were you trying to say something?"

"Yes, you freak! You wanted to know where we are going and I was in the process of relaying the information when you cut me off. Next time, if you don't want an answer, then don't ask!" Vegeta replied, his acidic tone biting into Goku's jubilant mood.

"Sorry Vegeta. I won't do that again. So where are we going besides Capsule Corp?"

"Forget it. I'm not going to waste my time on you with explanations when you're too dense to listen." With that, Vegeta increased his speed so that they were racing across the sky towards West City.

In only a few minutes, both Saiyans landed in the courtyard that surrounded Capsule Corp. Sneaking around the back, Vegeta again took to the air and hovered outside the balcony that led to his room. Scratching his head at Vegeta's behavior, Goku decided to ask him what was up.

"Uh, Vegeta, don't you think it would be faster for us to go in the main door instead of shimmying through a window?"

"Would you be quiet? I didn't ask for your opinion on the matter. If you must know, I would rather avoid meeting up with any of the other residents that are currently inhabiting this place." With that, Vegeta opened the doors that led to his room from the outside balcony.

Still scratching his head, Goku followed the Saiyan Prince into his rooms. He continued to mull over Vegeta's behavior while the smaller Saiyan went to his closet and pulled out his clean battle suit and armor. He hadn't been back since he had left yesterday, and he felt that his current garb was inappropriate for fighting with Kakarot. Moving to the bathroom, Vegeta closed the door to change in privacy away from the third class that was currently sitting on his bed.

While he was changing, Goku got an idea in his head about why Vegeta was acting a bit strange. The Vegeta he knew wouldn't have hesitated going through the main entrance of Capsule, and if they wouldn't let him in, he knew that Vegeta would have more than likely blasted the doors open to make his entrance. Seeing him skulk around was a little bit odd. 'I bet it has something to do with Bulma! Or else he's embarrassed to be seen with me. But I'm sure it has to be because of Bulma!' He sat on Vegeta's bed, a happy vacant expression plastered on his face. He didn't realize he had been sitting like that for a few minutes until Vegeta's cranky voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Kakarot, you are such an imbecile! And don't drool on my bed! Honestly, between you and that Woman, you both take the prize for being the spaciest people I know!" Vegeta mumbled out grumpily, waiting for the idiot to gain control of his mental facilities.

"By Woman, are you talking about Bulma?" Goku asked, sounding almost eager. His face even had a look on it that said he would be excited if Vegeta's answer was indeed Bulma, as though he knew there was something going on between the two of them. But that was impossible! The last time he'd seen the moron had been after that mysterious youth had blasted off to wherever he had come from. Clenching his fists, Vegeta moved off towards the balcony that they had recently entered from. Looking over his shoulder at Goku, he motioned for him to get moving before he uttered an answer.

"Huh, who else would I be talking about? You should know her better than anyone, seeing as she's constantly mouthing off about how long you've known each other. Like I care anyway!" But he did. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone, least of all Bulma _or_ Kakarot

Goku just grinned like an idiot at his temperamental friend. Taking the opening that was presented before him, Goku decided to nudge at Vegeta's feelings concerning Bulma so he could gain more insight into their relationship.

"Are you jealous, Vegeta?"

"What! Why would I be jealous? Only an insane person would be jealous over that female and her stupid relationships with other males! I'm above such petty and ridiculous feelings!" Vegeta said fervently. So fervently in fact, that Goku took it as a sign that Vegeta was succumbing to Bulma's charms. Well, whatever charms she possessed, Goku didn't know, but he assumed there must be something about her that had Vegeta so wound up that he looked like he was ready to blast Goku where he stood.

"Well, it was just an idea! You don't have to get so defensive!"

"Enough! I've wasted enough of my time babbling to you about something that doesn't concern you! Let's go if you still intend to spar with me. I have plans for the evening that I would rather not be late for." With that, Vegeta took off from his balcony and again landed on the lawn in front of Capsule Corp. He waited for Goku to touch down behind him before he continued.

"You have plans for the evening, Vegeta? Are you going on a date….with Bulma?" Goku asked in what he thought was a sly manner. Of course it was rather obvious to Vegeta that he was fishing for information specifically about his relationship with the maddening female he had to live with.

"Don't be ridiculous, you baka! I'd rather be tortured and flayed alive than have to suffer her company through a stupid human ritual. Humans have no idea how much time they waste with their 'dating' and 'conversation.' It's ludicrous!"

"Whaddya mean by that Vegeta!"

"You should know what I mean, idiot! You're a Saiyan _and_ you're mated!"

"You mean married? Well, I didn't really know what marriage was. I thought it was some kind of food, but it's all right, I guess!"

"You really amaze me with your stupidity sometimes Kakarot! Forget it. I don't even know why I'm talking about this with you." With that said, the walked over to the destination Vegeta had in mind: the new and improved kitchen. Opening the outside door, Vegeta made his way into the room. He hadn't been in there since he had rescued Bulma yet again from some retard, and the thought of the man with his hands all over Bulma renewed his sense of blowing something up. Regaining his temper before Goku could react and say something stupid, Vegeta made his way to the fridge.

"Wow! Is this the kitchen? When did they remodel it? It looks like heaven. I wish our kitchen looked like this!" He followed Vegeta inside, envious of how huge it was and at the size of the refrigerator. 'Bulma must really like Vegeta if she remodeled the kitchen and installed a huge fridge!' Goku thought. Sometimes life just wasn't fair!

Walking inside the fridge, Vegeta grabbed a handful of capsules that were stocked with food. He hadn't eaten since the day before and he was famished. Thrusting them into his pockets, he closed the fridge and again motioned at the gawking Saiyan to get his butt moving.

"Wish all you want, idiot. Now come on. We have some serious training to do, and I'm going to enjoy every minute I get to beat on your pathetic body!" With that, Vegeta blasted off through the open door.

Goku grinned like an idiot before he took off after Vegeta. 'Yeah, he is so whipped! Before he even knows what's happening, Bulma'll have him hooked, lined and sinkered.' Trunks was right about them _and _Goku hadn't even spilled the information to Vegeta. Apparently, things were going according to plan with Vegeta. Hopefully, they were going in the same direction for Bulma as well.

_A few hours later…_

Bulma took a good look at herself in the full size mirror.

"I look pretty damn hot, if I do say so myself!" Spinning around, she admired her figure and how the outfit she was wearing emphasized her body. She was wearing a slinky black dress with patented leather pumps. She had her hair pulled up into a sexy, messy french knot, and with all the makeup she had put on, you could hardly tell there was an still an ugly bruise on her forehead.

"Yamcha, eat your heart out sucker!" Bulma said with a laugh in her voice. Turning around, she saw Muffin sitting on her bed. He'd been outside all day long playing so she was sure he would behave himself for the night if her date went well and she didn't come home. Honestly, Bulma had discovered in the recent months with her disintegrating relationship with Yamcha that she missed some of the finer points of having a reliable boyfriend.

"You be a good boy Muffin! Mommy's going out for a while!" With that, she walked out of her room and closed the door. Walking past Vegeta's room, she stopped abruptly. She suddenly had the urge to knock on his door to see if he was in. She wanted to show off her outfit and see if she could get a reaction out of him. 'It has nothing to do with me liking him!' Bulma thought to herself before she knocked. She waited for a while and then gave up when there was no answer. 'Gee, he must still be gone. I wonder where the heck he went?' Even though she had kept telling herself that she was being ridiculous thinking about him, she couldn't keep him out of her mind all day. Even after her break this afternoon, her mind had kept straying to him so much so that she wasn't any further on her special project than she had been at the start of the day.

"Oh well! I guess that's life. I hope he isn't sicker than he said he was and he's stranded in the mountains somewhere dying!" Bulma said out loud as she made her way down the stairs, guilty feelings welling up inside of her. She was almost positive that that wasn't the case, but you never knew. Still, it irritated her that she was 'pining' after Vegeta. Her attention should be on her date, not the impossible man that she had to share a house with.

Opening the door to the outside and readying a capsule containing a new red convertible to replace the car that the jerk in the SUV had totaled, Bulma let out a shriek of surprise when her Mother and Father came barreling in through the doorway.

"Gee Mom and Dad! Give a girl a heart attack! You're starting to act like someone else I know that likes to sneak up on people!"

"Oh Bulma honey! We're sorry!" Taking in her daughter's appearance, Mrs. Briefs squealed in delight.

"Oh, honey! Are you going out tonight with Vegeta? That would be so wonderful if you were!"

Bulma rolled her eyes at her mother and almost started laughing when she saw her dad do the same thing. He was probably just as tired as she was hearing her mother go on and on about how wonderful Vegeta was.

"Uh, no. I make it a point to never go out with short, temperamental freaks like Vegeta. But I am going on a date with a guy named…, uh, named…Mac!" 'What kind of name is that? She'll be totally on to me now!' Bulma thought.

"Mac did you say? How did you meet him?" Bulma's mother asked out of curiosity.

Interjecting before his wife could get carried away, Dr. Briefs interrupted. "Dear, this is all fine and wonderful, but don't you think we should get out of the doorway so Bulma can make it to her date? She can tell us about him some other time. Besides, we have to bring in all of our travel gear and souvenirs." Winking suggestively at his wife, Dr. Briefs moved her out of the way so Bulma could get past.

"You're right. Sorry Bulma. I just am so excited to see that you're finally over your slump with Yamcha!"

"Thanks, Mom. Sorry to cut this short, but I've gotta run or I'll be late!" With that, she hurriedly kissed both of her parents, ran out the door, popped her capsule, got into her car and sped off the Capsule Corp property.

In what seemed like no time at all, Bulma pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant that they were going to meet at. The place was a moderately priced Italian restaurant, but the food was excellent, the service good and the ambiance were perfect for setting a romantic mood. Clutching her purse, Bulma made her way into the restaurant. Sitting down on a bench provided for waiting customers, Bulma jiggled her legs restlessly. She was so nervous! The guy in question was supposed to meet her here in the entryway. She would know if it was her date because he was supposed to wear a red rose with a blue ribbon tied around in his lapel. It seemed like eternity before she heard the door to the restaurant open.

'Please Kami, I beg of you, let this guy be nice, handsome and totally wonderful!' Bulma prayed silently with her eyes closed.

"Excuse me, but are you my date?" She heard a man's voice ask her. A man's voice that she suddenly recognized.

Opening her eyes, Bulma looked at her date in disbelief. Standing up, she stared at him before anything came out her mouth.

"You're my date?! Kami must have a very cruel and unusual sense of humor! Of all of the rotten luck I've had with men, my first date after Yamcha had to be you!" With that, she fainted dead away.

_Who is Bulma's mysterious date? Does he have anything to do with the plans Vegeta had for later that evening? Is that why Bulma fainted? To find out the answers to these burning questions, you'll have to read the next chapter!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Thanks again for all the kind reviews! Here is the latest addition! I tried to get it out as fast as possible, so I hope it is to your liking!_

_Disclaimer: Do I really need to keep saying it? I don't own DBZ. This story is written purely for my amusement and the amusement of others._

_Chapter 10_

"You're my date?! Kami must have a very cruel and unusual sense of humor! Of all of the rotten luck I've had with men, my first date after Yamcha had to be you!" Bulma stepped back away from the man in question. Her legs started to feel wobbly and suddenly the whole room started to shift and spin around her like a merry-go-round. Maybe it was the shock of the situation or the fact that the universe seemed to be playing a very cruel joke on her, but Bulma just couldn't take it. Her eyes rolled up into her forehead and she fell backwards into dead faint, her defense mechanism against the situation in question.

"Bulma!" yelled the man as he ran to grab her before she hit her head on the podium where the host checked to see if there was any seating available in the restaurant for incoming guests. The current host, seeing the predicament of the young lady, ran to the man who was trying to resuscitate her.

"Do you need any help, dude?"

"Ah, no. She'll come around in a few seconds. At least I hope she does. I'm not that terrible! At least I didn't used to think I was! Aw, man! I can't believe my date is Bulma. And she seemed so _nice_ during our anonymous e-mails." With that said, the man motioned the host away who was also in the process of moving incoming and outgoing guests out of the way. Shaking his head in dismay, the only thing he could think of to get Bulma to come back to reality was to slap her in the face. Doing it as gently as he could, he smacked her in the cheek. It produced the desired affect of rousing Bulma from her fainting spell, but it didn't change the fact that she was not too happy about the date she had been looking forward to for the last two days.

"Ouch, why'd you have to slap me you moron? Haven't you ever heard of smelling salts?" Bulma asked, irritation lacing her words. "Honestly, you are such a barbarian sometimes!" She stood up slowly, slapping away his attempts to help her up. She wasn't weak. She just had a rough few weeks and she was really disappointed in her date. She had wanted somebody who was tall and handsome and who wouldn't remind her in the slightest of her failed relationship with Yamcha. And she wanted someone who she could jump in the sack with to help erase the feelings of attraction she was having for Vegeta. And Krillin did not fit into any of those categories.

Sitting back down on the bench, Bulma put her head in her hands and looked at Krillen, who was sheepishly looking at his shoes and rubbing the back of his bald head with one of his hands. Krillin was a nice guy and Bulma genuinely enjoyed hanging around with him, but she had never liked him in any way other than as a friend or a brother. And there was just no getting over the fact that he was really, really short. She had never been interested in dating a guy who was shorter than she was. An unbidden thought of Vegeta suddenly pushed its way into her consciousness, but she tried to squash it before it could take full form. At least Vegeta was about the same height as her and she could admit to herself that he wasn't really all that bad looking. His looks had grown on her over the months, but that was it! Putting her mind back on the present situation, Bulma just let out a long sigh and blew her bangs out of her face.

"Aw, come on Bulma. I'm not all that bad! I'm a lot nicer than Yamcha. You're making it seem like going out with me is as bad as knowing that tomorrow, the Earth is going to blow up or something. Not a really great way to help a guy feel better about himself, that's for sure! Anyway, we're already here so we might as well make the most of it!" Krillin looked at her with a hopeful expression on his face. Not wanting to seem like an ogre, Bulma decided to agree. She didn't really want him to feel bad, but she also did not want him to get his hopes up about a future relationship. There was just no way that was _ever_ going to happen.

"Alright Krillin, let's get some grub. But you're paying, got it mister?"

"Sure thing, Bulma! I've been saving up for this! You can have whatever you want." With that, the little man made his way back up to the host. Smiling his suave smile, he winked at the host causing Bulma to roll her eyes and almost gag at how foolish Krillin was acting. Like he was going to impress anyone anyway!

"Your best table for two, please!"

"Sure thing dude. But if I were you, I wouldn't keep my hopes up about that broad. She doesn't seem to know a nice guy when she sees one!" The host whispered to Krillin in a very audible voice.

Leaning over to the host, Krillin whispered back nervously. "Uh, man, I wouldn't say that if I where you. She's pretty sensitive, if you know what I mean." He looked over at Bulma to make sure she hadn't overheard their little conversation. Unfortunately for Krillin and the host, they weren't very adept at being discrete and Bulma had gotten the message loud and clear. She was currently glaring at the two of them with a very evil look. Her face was starting to turn red, and if such a thing were possible, steam would have been escaping from her ears.

"Yikes Bulma! You didn't hear what we were talking about did you?" Krillin asked, cowering slightly next to the host's podium. He had been around Bulma for a lot of years and he knew that look she was giving him as well as the back of his hand. It meant that she was about to have a huge screamfest here in the restaurant and it was going to be aimed at him. And there was no way that he wanted to have to deal with Bulma in that state. He'd rather chew on nails than have to argue with her. Only an idiot would brave Bulma in a pissed off state of mind.

"Oh, of course not Krillin." Bulma said in a falsely sweet tone of voice. "_I_ didn't hear _anything_ of importance. Just that the two of you think I don't know nice guys when I see them and that I'm sensitive!" Putting steel into her next words, Bulma shot them both a nasty and disgusted look while she moved in for the kill. Standing right in front of the cowering Krillin, Bulma put her hands on her hips and looked down at the shorter man before she continued. "Well, let's just get this strait between the three of us. I do know nice guys when I see them. Nice guys don't talk about girls when they're right in front of them. So apparently Krillin, you and that idiot over there aren't nice guys. You can forget the dinner Krillin. I'm going home!" With that, she turned on her heel and headed for the door, fuming the entire way. Before she had gotten very far, Krillin called out to her, desperation in his voice.

"Come on Bulma! I didn't mean it like that! I think you know nice guys. Just give me another chance! We haven't even had our date yet!"

Turning around, Bulma gave Krillin another dirty look and then let out a long sigh. She had a short temper, and lately, it had been shorter than normal. She was being unfair to Krillin, letting her frustration at her lack of luck in relationships cloud her friendship and understanding of him. It wasn't very nice to just leave him high and dry like that. They were friends after all, and she needed all of the friends she could get at the moment.

"Okay Krillin. I'm sorry." Bulma said simply.

"I'm not all that bad, hon…what? Did you just say you were sorry?" Krillin asked, astonishment evident in his tone. 'Man, what's with her? She never apologizes, even if it is her fault for stuff! Something must really be bothering her.' Krillin thought to himself as he looked at Bulma. Maybe he could be her support network and then she would finally go out with him. Smiling at the thought, Krillin waited for Bulma's next move.

"Well, are we going to get seated or not? Honestly, service just isn't like it used to be!" Bulma said as she looked at the gawking host. Why did people have to constantly butt into her personal affairs? Like it was any of his business whether she had dinner with Krillin or not. Ugh!

"Sure lady! Right this way." Taking the shortest route to the closest table, the host seated them and left before she could start bitching at him. He had already pegged her as one of those high maintenance women and he didn't want to be around if sparks began to fly between the unusual looking couple. Breathing a sigh of relief, he went back to his job of seating other waiting customers who weren't as scary as the broad.

Krillin looked nervously at Bulma. For all of his self-assured thinking of being her personal confidant in matters of the heart, Krillin was beginning to think that that was wishful thinking on his part. He didn't have any luck with girls and Bulma was the kind of woman who knew and got what she wanted, regardless of the cost. He was grateful when their server came to take their order.

"I'll have the spaghetti with marinara sauce and a water." Krillin said simply.

"And I'll have the lobster and shrimp alfredo with a bottle of the house specialty wine." Bulma said, looking to see what Krillin's reaction would be. She knew he was only ordering spaghetti because he was cheap and he didn't have a lot of money. He didn't even have a real job, for Kami's sake!

"_What_ Bulma? That wine alone costs like 50 zeni for a bottle! You can't be serious!" Krillin said, sweat making rivulets down his bald, shiny forehead.

"Of course I'm serious! You take me to a nice restaurant, not even knowing it was going to be me and tell me I can have whatever I want, and then back out of it? What would you be doing if I were a complete stranger?" Bulma asked.

"Uh, I would let you get whatever you wanted without making a big deal about it. But come on Bulma, that's an awful lot of money for one bottle of wine. Are you planning on drinking the whole thing?" He could just see himself carrying out a very inebriated Bulma and that thought was not very appealing, especially since he would be the one to take her home and he didn't want to chance the possibility that he would end up running into Vegeta. Bulma might put up with the guy, but then again, he didn't think Bulma was completely sane when it came to Vegeta. No one in their right mind would have offered to put up the Saiyan Prince even if he had supposedly switched sides and was planning on helping them fight the Androids. The guy had pretty much said that after the Androids were destroyed, he was going to kill Goku. How could you betray one of your friends like that? It didn't make a whole lot of sense to Krillin. And then there was the whole issue about Yamcha. Last time Krillin had checked, Bulma was still dating him. Yamcha had been pretty out of sorts the last few months, especially after Bulma supposedly saved Vegeta when he blew up the Gravity Room. There was definitely something fishy going on over at Capsule Corp.

"No! I _was_ going to share it with you, idiot. I don't like making a fool of myself, and that's what would happen if I got really drunk off of a bottle of wine. I'm just making the point that you're being cheap because it's me you're taking on a date, not some unknown entity." Bulma said crankily. She must have been out of her mind agreeing to this date with Krillin! Their date had only been going on for about ten minutes and she was already getting a headache. Rubbing her temples, Bulma waited for Krillin to finish the order. The faster they got their food, the faster she could get out of here.

"Fine Bulma. Have it your way." Looking at the server, he motioned that they were done ordering. After the server left, Krillin looked across the table at Bulma and blushed. He had just noticed the slinky outfit she was wearing. It was painfully obvious to him that Bulma had probably been in the mood for seduction and he really wasn't very confident in that department. Besides, the thought of seducing Bulma was more than a little disturbing. Swallowing, he tried to get his mind off her body and into safer waters.

"So, ah, I take it things aren't going well for you and Yamcha?" Krillin asked and then promptly wanted to kick himself in the head for bringing up a subject that was probably a sore spot with Bulma. The reaction he got was exactly why he wished he would learn to control his mouth.

"No kidding, smart guy! I wouldn't be on a blind date Internet site if I had a boyfriend, now would I Krillin?" Bulma said sarcastically. Sometimes she wondered why she had such insensitive and stupid friends. She growled under her breath and proceeded to rip the napkin she was holding into tiny pieces.

"Well, um, do you want to talk about it?" Krillin asked nervously. Bulma was acting kind of scary and he wondered to himself if Vegeta's bad attitude was rubbing off onto her.

"No, not really. Let's just say he's a complete and total asshole and wanker and that we are over for good! And if he comes to you and tells you that I'm cheater, don't listen to a word he tells you because it's not true! Now, can we please move the subject away from Yamcha?" Bulma asked. She was trying to get over the jerk and talking about him to Krillin reminded her of all the reasons she had been stupid for continuing with the relationship as long as she had. Looking at Krillin, she decided to ask him about his relationship status.

"How about you and Maron? Weren't you dating her?"

"Yeah, about a million years ago! We broke up a long time ago, before that kid from the future showed up. Where have you been?" Krillin asked, sort of embarrassed that he had let Maron go.

"Sorry, unlike some people I know, I have a real job and responsibilities and I can't just hang out with my friends and practice martial arts whenever I want to. Plus, I have an oversized temperamental baby to watch over which consumes any other free time I might have at the moment." Bulma replied grumpily.

"Do you mean Vegeta?"

"Duh, who else would I be talking about? Of course I mean Vegeta. Ooh, don't even let me get started about him! The jerk destroyed the Gravity Room once already, blew up my kitchen, made me trip and fall so I got this lovely bruise on my forehead and got me to promise to feed him whenever he happens to be hungry and fix anything he damages in the Gravity Room! 'Yet I can't seem to get him out of my head, I think he secretly likes me, I sort of return the feeling even though I don't want to admit it, and he's saved me three times in less than a month. I'm so confused!' Bulma thought to herself. Her life was just becoming more and more complicated.

Krillin interjected back into the conversation. "Well, that sounds like Vegeta! At least he isn't threatening to kill you! I know what that's like, and believe you me, there is nothing scarier than having him make a threat you know he's capable of delivering without any qualms!" Just thinking about all the threats Vegeta had made concerning his life both on Earth and on Namek made Krillin queasy.

"Yeah well, him threatening to kill me is the least of my worries. He's always threatening to do something bad. I've just learned to ignore him for the most part. At any rate, he's really not that bad once you get to know him a little bit and you can stomach his holier than thou attitude."

Krillin raised his eyebrows in disbelief at Bulma and gave her a look that said she was losing her marbles. Vegeta, not that bad? Who was she trying to kid? The guy was a monster and a self-proclaimed sociopath. Goku might believe that Vegeta could change, but Krillin would have to see it to believe it. And the way Bulma was talking about him, it almost seemed like she liked the guy.

"Are you serious Bulma?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Look, I don't like Vegeta anymore than the next person. But I think a lot of what he does and says has to do with the horrible things he was made to do in the past working as a slave for Frieza. I don't think he ever got the chance to develop social skills very well and I think for all of his bravado and nastiness, it's just a cover up for the fact that he's lonely. I mean, he's the last of his kind besides Goku!"

"Yeah, and whose fault is that? I was there when he killed that big Saiyan that came with him you know. And he almost tried to kill Goku! How can you take sides with him?" Krillin asked, still unable to believe the words coming out of Bulma's mouth.

"I'm not taking sides with Vegeta, dorkwad! I'm just saying that having him as a houseguest, and a rather obnoxious one at that, I think I'm beginning to understand him better. That's all." Krillin was starting to annoy her with his opinions on the matter. Why couldn't he just see that she was getting to know the temperamental Saiyan Prince better, not because she really wanted to but because she saw him on a day to day basis? Was it that hard for people to understand? Really! While she was ruminating about Krillin's attitude, the food arrived.

"Wow, this sure looks good!" Krillin said as he stared enviously at Bulma's entrée. His own food looked sadly lacking and he wished he had more money to spend on himself.

"Yeah, it does. Let's just forget about Maron, Yamcha and Vegeta for the moment and enjoy our meal!"" She was tired of talking about all the bad things that had been going on in her life. She hadn't really talked to Krillin about what was going on his life besides Maron in quite a while. Deciding to shift the subject, she opened the bottle of wine and decided to make the most of the situation she was in. And if Krillin decided to pull anything funny with her, she would just let him know her feelings on the subject of them ever becoming an item. It just was not going to happen!

_About an hour later…_

Vegeta watched from his post as Bulma pulled into her driveway, swerving in at a dangerously high speed and then slamming on the breaks so hard, the car squealed to a stop. He snickered to himself as he watched her step out of the car and slam the door smartly behind her. She was home much earlier from her date than he had expected her to be. Usually when she had gone out with that low life pussy she had called boyfriend, she wouldn't get in until very early in the morning at about the same time he was going out to train.

Vegeta leaned back against the wall he was standing next to and crossed his arms, a smirk of amusement across his lips. 'Things must not have gone very well for her. Idiotic female and her dating. She's just a fool!' Vegeta thought. In all actuality, he was somewhat relieved that she was back already. He didn't like the idea of another man touching her in a manner similar to the way that low-life had in his new kitchen. And looking at the outfit Bulma was wearing, he had a feeling that that was what she had been planning on doing with her date. Vegeta violently squashed the thought of jealousy that rippled through his consciousness while he waited for her to approach the house. His plans for the evening had been to wait for her to get home so he could torment her about her date. And he had a feeling he was going to enjoy rubbing in her bad experience.

When Bulma had finished encapsulating her car, she made her way quickly to the house. The rest of her evening with Krillin hadn't gone very well. Dinner had been fine, but then he had tried to make the move on her when they left the restaurant. She had smacked him in the head and made it clear in no uncertain terms that they would never be an item because she just couldn't think of him in that capacity. Needless to say, Krillin had left in a huff and Bulma had renewed her sense that all men sucked big time.

Muttering to herself, Bulma made her way to the security pad to punch in her code so she could get into the house. She could see the lights were on in her parent's room so she wouldn't have to deal with them and it looked like Vegeta was still not back from wherever he had disappeared to yesterday. Either that or he already called it a night. She was about to let out a sigh of relief at her apparent good fortune when a very familiar voice called out from somewhere above her.

"Home so soon? I thought you had a date. Don't tell me you scared him off as soon as he saw you. Well, then again, with your looks, it wouldn't be that difficult!"

Looking up above her, Bulma saw Vegeta standing on one of the balconies on the second floor of her house, his body leaning against the wall behind him

"Just give it a rest Vegeta. I don't want to talk about it. And what are you doing up there? Were you waiting for me?' Bulma asked.

"What does it look I was doing?" Vegeta snapped out. Stepping away from the wall, he jumped down from where he was standing and landed directly behind Bulma. "Someone's got to make sure you stay out of trouble since you certainly don't seem to be able to take care of yourself."

Bulma spun around so she faced Vegeta. Looking at him, she decided to reply civilly to him instead of letting a smart-ass comment slip off of her tongue.

"Well, thanks for the offer of looking after me Vegeta, but I already seem to owe you enough as it is and I would rather not have to add to the bill. Good night!" With that said Bulma turned back to the door and finished punching in her code. Walking in through the door, she threw her purse onto the table in the foyer and started walking down the hallway. She reached the stairs before she realized that she wasn't alone. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that Vegeta had followed her into the house and was standing in the hallway looking at her with a very superior expression etched onto his face. Trying to make light of the situation and the obvious fact that he was probably purposely trying to aggravate her, Bulma decided to forget her intentions of speaking civilly to him. It was just impossible most of the time when it came to dealing with Vegeta anyway.

"Oh, Vegeta! It's so thoughtful of you to follow me to make sure I make it to my room all right. It shows how much you truly care for me. I'm flattered." Bulma said sarcastically. "But just so you know, I'm more than capable of making it up there on my own."

"Are you sure about that Woman? The last time I checked, you're the clumsiest person I've ever come across. And although you might think I'm doing it out of the kindness of my heart, let me remind you that I don't have one and that I think feelings like that are weak and pathetic."

"I already know you don't have a heart Vegeta. That's a given. But really, what's the deal? Why were you waiting for me and why are you following me up to my room? You can't want to jump me that bad that you'd wait for me to get home from being with another guy, can you? I know I look really good right now, but it wasn't to impress you, your Excellency." Crossing her arms in imitation of Vegeta's usual posture, she waited for his answer. She could see the spark of challenge in his eyes and she was looking forward to hearing what was going to come out of his royal pain in the ass mouth.

Moving forward so that he was just below her on the stairs, Vegeta looked up at the minx standing before him. He almost grinned when he saw the excitement that was behind Bulma's big blue eyes. He also reminded himself that he had to be very careful. It was becoming all too easy to lose himself in her eyes and let his instincts take over. If he wasn't careful, he was going to end up eating his own words, and the last thing he wanted was to have Bulma crowing over him because she had figured out his fascination for her before he would ever admit it to her.

Deciding to choose his words carefully, Vegeta made up his mind to piss her off before she went to bed.

"You already know what I think of you in those types of garments."

"That I'm hot? Well, that's a given, even if you won't admit it. Like I told you yesterday, I think you secretly have a crush on me. It's too bad you'll never find out how much you're missing out on." Bulma said, trying to egg him on even though she knew she was behaving foolishly. The truth was, she was still trying to figure out what he thought of her or at least have him admit that he truly found her appealing to look at. But why she even cared was the mystery. For so long, she had been trying to convince herself that she had no feelings for him, but she was beginning to wonder if that was even true anymore. Yesterday, she had wanted to be his friend, but what did she really want? She had no idea, or at least any idea that she would admit to.

Vegeta's voice interrupted her thoughts. "You really think too highly of yourself. I suppose for a human female, you're passable, but not attractive enough to tempt me. And I wouldn't be missing out on anything. You wouldn't be the first whore I've slept with nor would you be the last." He watched with anticipation as Bulma's eyes grew wide with outrage. 'Yes,' he thought. 'Let's see what you think of that, Woman!'

"Ohh, that does it Vegeta! You are such an egotistical bastard! I am not a whore!" Before she could stop herself, Bulma closed her eyes and promptly burst into tears.

Vegeta looked on at her uncomfortably. He had wanted her to argue with him, not break down and start sniveling. He hated it when she cried. Mostly, it just annoyed him to no end, but this time, he felt something twist in his gut that felt akin to guilt. Angrily trying to shake off the feelings he was having at the moment, Vegeta moved in closer to the weeping woman.

Meanwhile, Bulma's thoughts were in turmoil. What was it with her that his barbed comments were affecting her in such a manner? She was used to Vegeta laying in on her. She had just let his hurtful comments slide off of her back like water. But lately, she had started to take his comments to heart and he did have a way with wounding her with his acidic words. Maybe she really did feel more for him than she thought she did for his nastiness to bother her like this. She was about to wipe the tears from her face and run off to her room to cower behind her door when she felt something brush against her cheek. Opening her eyes, she saw it was Vegeta's hand and that he was brushing the tears away for her.

"You're becoming too sensitive, Woman." He said to her roughly before he moved away. He couldn't believe he had just done that! What in the hell was he thinking? She really was turning him into a first rate baka.

Watching him move back, Bulma let out a wet hiccup before she entered back into the conversation.

"Maybe, but that doesn't give you the right to insult me like that, you big jerk!"

Trying to justify his position even if it wasn't how he really felt about Bulma, Vegeta backed down a few stairs and crossed his arms before he continued. "What am I supposed to think about you? You wear the most revealing outfits. The only women I have ever known to dress as provocatively as you were the prostitutes on Frieza's ship. Besides, I have a pretty good idea of just what you were planning on doing with your date." He said smugly.

"Oh you do, do you?" Bulma said angrily. Stomping down a few stairs, Bulma wiped the remaining tears off of her face, not caring if it smudged her perfect makeup. "And what exactly did you think I had planned, and what concern is it of yours what I do with my dates, hmmm?" Bulma yelled strait into Vegeta's face. She was so sick of his attitude!

"It's none of my concern what you do with those idiots you go out with. I could care less! You're reading too much into the situation, Woman." Vegeta said hastily as he backed away from the brewing inferno that was Bulma. Her anger was having the exact effect on him that he did not want it to have. He could see the challenge in her eyes. It was taking all of his self-control not to haul her over his shoulder, take her to his room and have his way with her. If it had been any other female besides Bulma, he wouldn't have cared, but she was continually crossing the line when it came to rituals that she had no understanding of. And he was a _Prince_! When it came time for him to take a mate, if he ever did, he couldn't just pick a low-level weakling like Bulma for his future queen. This whole situation was becoming more and more preposterous as the minutes ticked by.

"Oh, I don't think I am at all Vegeta! I know that you think I was planning on sleeping with my date." Bulma said hotly, directly into his face. Moving forward so that Vegeta's back was to the wall, Bulma put her hands on her hips and drilled her intense gaze into Vegeta's eyes. "And you were probably right. Unfortunately, my date didn't turn out exactly as I had planned. Oh, well. But the burning question is this: if you really don't care what I do with my dates, why do you bring it up? I think I'm starting to figure you out Vegeta. Do you want to know what _I_ think?" Bulma asked him. She narrowed her eyes at him and waited for him to make the next step in the little dance they were performing.

Vegeta leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms trying to hide the uneasiness and excitement that was growing inside of him. Part of him couldn't believe how effectively Bulma had backed him into a corner. The other part of him was jubilant because they might actually get somewhere tonight, even if that hadn't been his plan from the beginning. And perhaps unfortunately for Vegeta, the second part of him was slowly winning the battle against the first.

"No, I have absolutely no interest in discovering your opinion on the matter." Vegeta muttered to Bulma.

Moving in even closer to Vegeta and making sure she was invading his personal space just as he had habit of doing with her lately, Bulma retorted back to him.

"Well too bad, Prince Dickhead! I think you really do like me Vegeta. You can keep on denying it, but actions speak louder than words. I can sum you up in one little word. Its called jealousy! Only a _jealous_ idiot would be waiting for me after a date. Only a _jealous_ idiot would make unfounded and hurtful accusations against the person they secretly like. And I can go on and on and on!" So there! She had her thoughts out in the open about just how he felt about her. It suddenly made sense to Bulma about why he had been so vicious to that guy who had assaulted her in the kitchen, why he had been extra nasty when he had first found out about her date and why he was waiting for her to get back so he could thumb his nose at her. He really was jealous, and since it was probably a new feeling for him, he just didn't know how to behave around her. It also brought to light the uncomfortable reality that if Vegeta really did find her attractive, it would probably mean that her life was going to be that much more difficult. Ugh, why couldn't things just be simple in life for her? Was it too much to ask for?

Bulma waited for him to do something. Knowing Vegeta, he would never ever admit to such a thing as jealousy because that would mean somewhere inside of him, he was capable of feeling something other than rage, frustration, hate and pride. But instead of pushing her away and telling her that she was completely off the mark where his feelings where concerned, Vegeta pulled the cloth out from underneath Bulma in such a way that would leave her more confused than ever about her own thoughts on a relationship with Vegeta.

Before she even had a chance to react, Vegeta moved faster than Bulma could track with her eyes, grabbed her wrists and reversed their positions so that she was pinned up against the wall and he was pushing up against her. It was very reminiscent of her more recent physical encounters with him.

Making sure to not take his eyes of off Bulma, he smirked at her, but not in his usual menacing way. Taking one of his hands off of her wrists, he gently stroked her cheek. Bulma's breathing picked up. She had a sudden feeling that she and Vegeta were hitting a crossroads in their strange relationship. One that there was no going back from.

"I'm not jealous, not in the least. But just as a warning for future reference Bulma, you shouldn't play with fire if you don't want to get burned, especially if you don't realize how dangerous the fire actually is." With that comment said, Vegeta lunged in for the kill. Bulma new what was going to happen between the two of them. The pressure between them had been building ever since he had rescued her from her car accident. The funny thing was, instead of fighting against the tide, Bulma let herself be swept away as Vegeta's mouth found hers.

_Does this unlikely event finally bring both Vegeta and Bulma to an understanding of their feelings for each other or will things just get worse? Find out in the next chapter! Please R&R as always!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Okay, just as a warning: this is my first attempt at writing a sort of romantic scene, so don't boo too much if it's terrible! I've read about the whole bonding thing in other stories. I tried to take my own spin on it. And thanks for all of the nice reviews! Enjoy, or should I say, Bon appetit!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ!_

_Chapter 11_

Bulma had no time to react. Nor, if she was really honest with herself, did she want to change what was going to happen between her and Vegeta. His free hand, which had been stroking her cheek, left her face and found it's way down to her waist where Vegeta firmly wrapped his arm around her, effectively anchoring her to himself, using the wall behind her as a support. Bulma's heart was now racing with anticipation and just a hint of apprehension. 'Oh Kami, he's really going to kiss me! It's really going to happen and I'm not doing anything to stop it! What's wrong with me?' Bulma thought to herself as she saw the unmistakable look of lust and desire in Vegeta's intense black gaze. But it was like she was hypnotized, the proverbial deer in the headlights. She felt like she could gaze into his eyes forever, the magnetism between the two of them was that strong. She wanted this, her body wanted this and she felt like there was another force that wanted this to happen as well. It was like there was a voice whispering inside of her mind, telling her to just give into her desire. Letting a sigh out between her slightly parted lips, Bulma surrendered to the stronger will of her body and the strange force that seemed to be pulling her and Vegeta into this particular moment.

Looking at Bulma's befuddled state, Vegeta almost smirked in triumph at how easy this was going. She wasn't even putting up a fight and it was almost scary how easy it was to use his telepathy as a tool to manipulate her into giving into what she obviously wanted as much as he did. But then there was the voice of reason that screamed in the back of his mind. 'Idiot! If you do this, there will be no going back for you, ever! You'll be stuck with a weakling harpy as your mate, one that will drive you insane in a matter of days! Is it really worth the few minutes of pleasure you'll find with her?' Growling a bit under his breath, but not loud enough to frighten Bulma out of her hypnotized state, Vegeta squashed the voice in the back of his head to the blank recesses of his mind. He was in control. He would get these lustful feelings out of his system for this maddening female once and for all and then maybe his life would go back to normal. He would use her and dump her with no strings attached. At least that's what he tried to tell himself, anyway. The truth was, it certainly wasn't going to be that simple or cut and dry. Deciding once and for all that he was going to silence the demon inside of him, Vegeta lunged in for the kill.

Bulma saw his mouth descending towards her own. Closing her eyes, she let herself be swept along the river of passion that was struggling between the two of them. Her senses seemed to suddenly come alive as she waited to finally find out what it would be like to be kissed by the Prince of all Saiyans. She could feel Vegeta's body against her own and the hard wall behind her back. She could hear the short puffs of breath coming from her mouth as she waited in tense anticipation. Vegeta's own breathing seemed to increase in rapidity as well. In detail, she could smell his scent all around her. Instead of smelling like the body odor she was accustomed to, it was obvious that he had cleaned himself up before waiting for her to come home. There was also another peculiar scent coming from him as well. It sort of smelled salty, musky and altogether erotic. Whether Bulma realized it or not, it was having a decided effect on how she was reacting to Vegeta's advances. It seemed to take forever before she felt his mouth touching her own.

Bulma had never experienced a kiss quite like this before in any experience she had had with Yamcha. Vegeta was an entirely different animal, both literally and figuratively. His lips were just as hard as the rest of his body, but they were also warm and pliable. At first, there seemed to be a hesitance on the part of the Prince when their lips touched each other. A fleeting touch and then nothing. Bulma felt herself grow impatient.

'What the hell is taking him so long to kiss me? This century would be fine, Vegeta!' Bulma thought impatiently. She was more than a little surprised when she thought she heard Vegeta answer her…in her head of all places!

'Woman, haven't you ever heard that those who wait are rewarded for their patience? You'll get your kiss, don't worry about that!' Bulma shook her head. She had to be imagining that whole conversation. Or else she really was losing her mind. Trying to push the sluggishness out of her mind, Bulma opened her eyelids slightly to get a good look at Vegeta. She was more than a bit surprised to find his face less then a centimeter from her own, their noses almost touching. Trying to focus in on his face, she realized he looked pensive, like he was trying to make up his mind about something. It was then that she realized he was watching her and had noticed that her eyes where open. Smirking slightly, Vegeta touched his nose to hers. It was strange standing there like that but exciting at the same time.

"Ah, ah, Woman. No peeking is allowed. I suppose I'll have to punish you for that."

Bulma swallowed, letting some of her earlier nervousness return. But before she had time to rethink the intelligence of going through with the act of kissing Vegeta, she found her eyes locked back on his. Feeling herself slide back into that strange catatonic state of hypnosis, Bulma closed her eyes again. This time, when Vegeta's mouth landed on hers, there was no mistaking his intent. None at all.

His mouth was hard and brutal as it claimed her own. Bulma had had a feeling that kissing Vegeta would be like fighting a battle, but she had no idea how intense and brash it would actually be. The intensity of it frightened her a bit. She tried to pull back away from the onslaught. But then she felt that external force pushing at her again, making her feel that she was doing the right thing and that everything would be all right. Vegeta's other hand let go of the wrist it was holding and wrapped itself around her back making sure that there was no way Bulma was going to get away from this experience even if she felt like backing out.

Giving into the sensation of feeling Vegeta's body against her own, his lips against hers, and the feeling that she was doing the right thing, Bulma surrendered completely. Opening her mouth to his, she let him taste her. It felt so good, even if he was a really rough kisser. Bulma moaned slightly and moved her arms to wrap around Vegeta's body. She pushed one of her hands into his flame like hair, feeling the softness of the texture that contrasted so much with the rest of him. Her own body suddenly felt like it was on fire. Any coherent thought she had had was gone. All she could think about was being with Vegeta, touching him, and letting the feelings of attraction that she herself had been trying to deny for a while come to the surface. She had no idea that Vegeta's mind and body where going through a similar experience.

Vegeta had perhaps kissed a few women in his past, but none had ever compared to kissing Bulma. He had thought he was in control of the situation when he had again used his telepathy to influence her back onto this path of destiny. But as soon as he made up his mind to kiss her, the whole situation suddenly changed in a flash. He had expected her to struggle against him. That had been his only real experience with women. He hadn't expected her to surrender to his will. It threw a monkey wrench into his perfect plan. As soon as she opened her mouth to his own, he lost whatever plan he had had to make sure he got what he wanted from her without having any permanent consequences to deal with. He felt her arms wrap around his body, one of her hands pushing into his hair, anchoring herself to him. He groaned as he felt his body tightening in response to the female in his arms. All of his instincts suddenly reared their ugly heads inside his mind. It was like he was in a battle with two fronts. It was the same one he had been fighting for weeks now, but his own private will was no longer stronger than his instinctual will. He didn't even realize what he had done until he heard Bulma cry out in pain.

Meanwhile, Bulma was in absolute heaven. If she had known how great of a kisser Vegeta was, she would have broken up with Yamcha a long time ago! There was just no comparison between the two. Her mind was actively thinking of better things to be doing with Vegeta when his mouth moved. Suddenly, she felt an excruciatingly sharp pain in her lower lip. She cried out in pain that the same time her mind registered that Vegeta was biting her lip and licking up the blood. It disgusted her and intrigued her at the same time. She was more than a bit surprised when she felt Vegeta suddenly let go of her body as though she were a red hot poker.

Opening her eyes and leaning against the wall for support, Bulma felt disorientated, as though she had just woken up from a dream. She looked at Vegeta who had stepped a foot back from her. He was panting heavily and there was no denying the 'evidence' that pointed to his physical attraction for her. She also noticed that there was blood, her blood, on his lips and running down his chin. If he looked that disheveled, she must look like an absolute wreck! It seemed like every time she had an encounter with Vegeta, she ended up looking worse than usual. Trying to shake the lethargy out of her system, she watched Vegeta to see what his next move would be.

Vegeta, putting some distance between himself and Bulma, panted as his mind raced over what he had just done. What had he done? He looked at Bulma. Her hair was messed up and there was blood smeared across her chin. He watched as she unconsciously touched her swollen and bleeding lower lip. She seemed to still be recovering from the effects of the kiss he had inflicted upon her. But, Vegeta realized a little bit too late that it had been way more than a regular kiss. He groaned inwardly at how stupid he had been for convincing himself that kissing her would lead nowhere. Not when he had been having dreams about mating with her. And now, he was really in a sticky situation. He caught himself licking her blood off of his own lips and he could feel the residual telepathic link between the two of them that had only been intensified when he had bitten her lip. 'Way to go, Vegeta. You are now literally screwed!' he thought angrily to himself. He had told Bulma she was playing with fire, but the truth was he had been playing with it just as much as she had. The current situation he was in was not good and he was suddenly afraid of what the consequences for this little escapade where going to be for himself.

Bulma stood watching Vegeta warily. He looked like he was having his own private conversation. She took it is a slightly good sign that he hadn't said anything about her kissing ability but his behavior was starting to worry her a bit. And then there was this feeling inside of her that they were somehow now connected even though all they had done was participate in a harmless kiss. They could each go their separate ways and forget this whole encounter even happened, right? Touching her lip, she groaned in embarrassment as her hand came back with blood on it. She was going to have the biggest swollen lip she had ever had in her entire life to go along with the ugly fading bruise on her forehead. How was she ever going to be able to go on a date now? Life just wasn't fair!

Vegeta still looked to be lost in thought when Bulma decided to ask the first thing that came to her mind.

"Why'd you bite me Vegeta? And are you okay? You look a little bit peaky. I wasn't expecting that kiss to be great, but wow! You sure pack a wallop." Bulma said with a giggle in her voice. To tell the truth, she still felt a little bit disorientated, like she was slightly drunk. It was like Vegeta had intoxicated her. She almost burst out laughing, not understanding why the situation seemed so funny. Maybe he had drugged her. He had been giving off that funny smell which she could still detect in the air around them. She watched him and was surprised when nothing sardonic came out of his mouth. In fact, he looked like a statue. The only thing that indicated he was alive and kicking was his breathing, which was still irregular, and the fact that his body hadn't calmed itself all the way down. Bulma smirked to herself. She had been so right about his crush on her. To think she had that kind of affect on a Prince! Oh, yeah! She was good!

Sighing, Bulma decided to move in a little bit closer to make sure Vegeta really was okay. Maybe he was still having some lingering side affects from that pizza she had fed him. Or perhaps whatever training he had been doing all day had injured him somehow. She noticed that there were numerous small lacerations on his arms and neck.

She hadn't moved more than an inch when Vegeta suddenly snapped back to reality.

Glaring at her, his body tensed up into a defensive position.

"What is wrong with you, Vegeta?" Bulma asked, slightly hurt by is attitude.

"Nothing is wrong with me Woman. Just stay back!" he snarled at her, baring his fangs at her in a very literal sense.

Bulma gasped in recognition. They looked exactly like the fangs she had seen on Vegeta in that strange dream she had had yesterday morning. Putting her hand to her heart, Bulma blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"Oh my God Vegeta, you have fangs coming out of your mouth!" 'Oh lord Bulma, what a way to state the obvious! He's going to think you're loco or something.' Bulma thought derisively to herself.

"**What**??" Vegeta roared so loud, the house shook. 'Is she flipping serious?' Vegeta thought to himself as he took a shaky hand and touched it to his shiny incisors. There was no denying them. They were there and it really meant that Vegeta was in deep shit when it came to Bulma.

"Jeez, you don't have to yell so loud. You'll wake up the whole house, and I would rather not have my mother come down here and see us in this state. You know what she's like." Bulma said testily. She couldn't believe it. Her night was turning into hell in a hand basket and it seemed to fit in perfectly with how rotten the week before had been. Having her mother come down the stairs and coo with happiness over the fact that her daughter had been seriously making out with the Perfect Prince Vegeta would be the icing on the cake. Bulma put her hands on her hips and watched Vegeta, who was acting stranger by the minute. He actually looked like he was kind of afraid. He also looked like he was very pissed off at the moment.

"Are you telling me that your parents have finally returned from wherever on this godforsaken planet they went to?" Vegeta rasped out angrily. It was difficult to talk with stupid fangs sticking out of his mouth. He knew that as soon as his hormones where under control, they'd go away, but with Bulma around it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He literally wanted to kick himself in the head for being so stupid.

"Well, duh! That's what I said, didn't I?" Bulma shot back at him sarcastically. Honestly, he was acting like a total jerk, not that that wasn't surprising. "Didn't you know they where home? They got in right before I left for my date."

"Why would I know that? I came in through my balcony so I wouldn't have to deal with insolent human beings and then, I came back outside to wait for you so I could torture you." Vegeta yelled back at Bulma.

"Oh, thanks Vegeta!" Bulma said bitterly. "Real nice of you to think about torturing me after my date. You are such a dickhead sometimes!"

"Whatever Woman! I don't have time to argue with you!" he growled out. In all actuality, what he really needed to do was get as far away from her as possible so he could think through his current situation coherently. With Bulma looking at him, her body so easily accessible, it was difficult for him to think straight, especially after what he had done to her lip.

"Look Vegeta, I don't want to argue with you. I just want to know why you're acting so strange! I'm concerned about you." Bulma said honestly. He was acting weird and indecisive, like he was a wild animal trapped in a cage with nowhere to go. It was very unlike Vegeta to act in such a manner.

"You're concerned? How touching. Well, keep your concern. I don't need it!" Vegeta sneered nastily at Bulma.

"Would you stop trying to argue with me, Vegeta? I don't want to be your enemy! We don't have to let this stupid kiss affect our relationship. We can forget that it ever happened and move on with our lives. I'm not going to blackmail you about it or even bring it up ever again if you don't want to. Heck, I'll even pretend that I don't think you have a crush on me." Bulma said jokingly as a way to calm down the very upset Prince. She had no idea that her approach would backfire on her. She had stepped a few inches closer to Vegeta, when she suddenly found herself slammed up against the wall in the foyer for a second time. Vegeta's face was inches from her own, and this time she got a close and personal look at his new dental wear. She swallowed in fear as she looked into his eyes. They were glowing strangely and were filled with unmistakable anger.

"You don't get it, do you Bulma? There is no going back to our regular lives. You played with fire and you got burned big time Woman!" Vegeta hissed into Bulma's terrified face. She had never literally been at the brunt of his anger, but now that she was in that position, she wanted to escape as quickly as she could. Swallowing nervously, Bulma tried to squirm out of his grasp even though she knew she wasn't going anywhere until Vegeta was good and ready to let her go.

"What is wrong with you? What do you mean we can't go back to our regular relationship? You're really starting to scare me Vegeta." Bulma whispered out shakily.

Vegeta could easily sense her fear, but he could also read her concern for him through that stupid link he had opened up with her. She wasn't telepathic, so she would have no idea how they were connected. A small part of him felt bad for frightening her, but he was extremely angry with the situation in question, and there was no getting around the fact that whether he liked it or not, he was going to eventually be part of Bulma Briefs life for eternity. She just didn't understand what had happened. Though the truth was, it was only the tip of the iceberg.

"I'm starting to scare you? Well, maybe you should have been scared of me from the beginning. That way, we would never have found ourselves in this little situation!"

"Oh, so it's my fault that we're attracted to each other, is it?" Bulma snapped back at him.

Vegeta growled in frustration. "You have no clue what you've gotten yourself into, do you? Well, when I've sorted everything out for myself, I let you in on the details."

"Just tell me what it is you want from me Vegeta! I know you keep saying that you don't want to go out with me, but I'm single again. We could date if you wanted to. It's really not that bad!" Bulma wanted to smack herself in the head! Just yesterday, she had been telling herself that she didn't want to be Vegeta's girlfriend, and now she was practically offering herself up to him on a silver platter. What was she thinking? Yet, the prospect of dating Vegeta did seem interesting. He wasn't like ordinary guys. That was for sure!

Vegeta let out another low hiss of disgust and frustration. He really had turned into a first rate idiot where Bulma was concerned and he had no idea how he had gotten there. Letting go of her in distaste, he backed away again.

"Fool! How many times do I have to tell you? Saiyans don't date!"

Bulma brushed herself off and glared at him. Her new black dress was going to be ruined if he kept manhandling her. Though she was secretly relieved that he had let her go. Stepping away from the wall, she started up their conversation again.

"Well, if Saiyans don't date, what exactly do they do?" Bulma asked out of annoyance and curiosity. She was tired of him beating around the bush and telling her half-truths. It was getting to the point of ridiculousness!

"I don't think you really want to know! But I'll let you in on a little secret. Saiyans don't waste their time mooning after idiots and going to fancy dinners. When the time has come for a Saiyan to settle down, they select an appropriate mate. They always know who that person is almost from the time they meet them. There are certain rituals and rights of passage along the way. The eventuality is that they will claim each other and forge a permanent bond. There is no 'breaking up.' It is permanent. That means forever, Woman!" Vegeta crossed his arms and waited for her reaction. Unfortunately, what he thought of as a scare tactic to get her to leave him alone had the opposite affect on Bulma then he had intended. Instead, she looked as thought what he said was the most romantic thing she had ever heard. He didn't think what he said had even sunk in and this was confirmed when Bulma opened her mouth all over again.

"You guys never break it off? That is so wonderful! I didn't know Saiyans were so romantic! So, what do you do to let the girl you like know you want to be her mate?" Bulma asked curiously.

Vegeta bared his fangs at her again in anger. Honestly, for supposedly being one of the smartest people on the planet, she had rocks for brains! Hadn't anything he had said to her clued her into the possibility that maybe she should be a little bit apprehensive about the fact that he had kissed her and then made his intent known, even though that had never been part of his plan, when he bit her and tasted her blood? He wanted to throttle her!

Bulma saw Vegeta's expression and backed up a bit.

"Why are you so sensitive and testy all of a sudden, Vegeta? Can't a girl ask questions?" Bulma asked using a somewhat snippy tone of voice.

"The only questions you should be asking Woman are ones that are somewhat intelligent. This isn't some foolish love story. In fact, there is no love involved! Claiming a mate is purely instinctual!" he growled out.

"Well, Goku's a Saiyan and I know for a fact that he loves Chi-Chi!" Bulma said, trying to make a point that Vegeta's purely instinctual idea was moot.

"Kakarot's an ignoramus. I wouldn't put it past the dolt that he never fully bonded with the harpy he calls wife. He couldn't even remember he was a Saiyan, so how could he understand bonding?" Then again, he was still with that shrew after all of these years and _she_ made Bulma seem like a princess.

"Whatever Vegeta. I can still think it's romantic if I want to! I'm entitled to my own opinions."

"Oh, let me assure you Woman that bonding with a mate is most definitely not romantic in the least." Vegeta's eyes had taken on that feral look again as he moved in closer to his prey. "It's bloody and most certainly violent."

Bulma seemed oblivious to his mood. She still wanted answers, and by God, he was going to give them to her.

"Come on Vegeta, stop trying to freak me out. Just tell me how a Saiyan woman knows when a Saiyan guy wants to claim her as a mate!" Bulma stated in a very petulant tone of voice.

"Do you really want to know?" Vegeta asked, giving Bulma the cat and mouse look he had had when she tripped on the ceiling tile in the kitchen. Backing up nervously, Bulma shook her head in the affirmative.

Vegeta moved in closer, but not close enough so that there bodies where touching. He didn't need the distraction. Making sure he was looking directly into her eyes, he allowed himself a small smirk. It even looked more sinister than usual because of the sparkling white fangs protruding over his lips and the dried blood that was around his mouth.

"All right. I'll tell you exactly how she knows. First of all, there has to be some sort of challenge between the two. It can be in the form of a physical challenge or it can be in the form of a threat. Males and females have equal ability in signaling their intent of starting the bonding process. Should I provide you with an example?" Vegeta asked with a very obvious gleam of amusement in his eyes. He was starting to enjoy this. He had a feeling that when Bulma figured out the truth, she would be just as pissed at the situation as he was. He waited for Bulma to nod her head again before he continued.

"Alright. I'll give you one that you should be able to relate to. When a female looks a male straight in the eye, especially a male that has a considerably larger power level than the female in question, and issues them an ultimatum, that is considered a direct challenge and can be interpreted as a signal to initiate bonding." He watched as Bulma swallowed, not doubt remembering the ultimatum she had given him to leave her house. The truth was, she had been challenging him ever since he had come back from space looking for Kakarot. Telling him he needed a shower and then making him take one had probably been the first. But it wasn't until she had threatened to kick him out that his mind and body seriously began contemplating taking her as a mate. And even then, he had been in denial.

"Are you serious about that Vegeta?" Bulma asked a bit nervously.

"I'm dead serious Woman. Are you becoming a bit uncomfortable? Are my answers hitting too close to home?" He waited as Bulma shook her head no. 'Liar,' he thought to himself. 'You're just starting to understand the nature of our predicament.'

"Would you like to know more? Well, I've decided that a bit more information won't hurt you. Giving a direct challenge is just the beginning. Often times, a Saiyan may be in denial about the reality that the time has come to take a mate. But eventually, they either make a stupid mistake or their body wins out over their mind. Once a bonding ritual has been initiated, it is only a matter of time before the process continues regardless of how either party feels on the matter. Physical attraction is a definite sign that things are moving along. The Saiyan can deny it all they want, but eventually, they will find themselves confronted in a situation where there is an overwhelming desire to initiate mating. Only through mating is the bonding process completed. The first thing the two potential mates do to each other when they start the mating process is to temporarily open a link between their minds. In case you didn't know, Saiyans are telepathic, though not as strong as some other alien species. Once this has been accomplished, there is usually an overwhelming desire to taste each other's blood. By doing this, it helps to create a more permanent telepathic channel that connects the two for eternity. One of the easiest places to bite is the lips." Vegeta said, his eyebrow raised, waiting for the information he had just divulged to sink into her brain.

Bulma took a step back, letting what he said settle into her overwhelmed mind. She touched her sore lip. She remembered feeling as though there was another force telling her that kissing Vegeta was a good idea. The thought that it was Vegeta in her brain almost made her feel almost violated. She could tell that there was more he wasn't telling her, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to know more. Suddenly, everything clicked into place. 'Oh Kami, he can't be serious, can he? Oh please no!' Bulma thought desperately.

"Vegeta, this is all just a big joke right? All that stuff you just said isn't really and truly true, is it? I mean, even if it is, the whole bonding thing can be reversed, can't it?" She was praying and hoping that it could be.

Vegeta glared at her angrily. He didn't want to be her mate anymore than she obviously wanted to be his. But what could he really do about the situation? As far as he knew, there was no turning back, especially after he had tasted Bulma's blood.

"Haven't you been listening, Woman? I said the bonding process is permanent. It might be possible to reverse it after the initial challenge is given and accepted, but after they have gotten a taste for each other's blood, there is no going back! Ever!"

Bulma felt like she was going to faint all over again. Or possibly puke! She put her hands against the wall to steady herself and took several deep breaths before she looked over at Vegeta.

"Let's just get this straight between us. Are you saying that I initiated this whole bonding thing when I kicked you out of the house and that now, because I gave in and let you kiss me and you bit me on the lip that we are going to end up being bonded together for the rest of our lives?" Bulma asked tensely.

"Finally, you understand the enormity of this situation. That is exactly what I am saying Bulma." Vegeta flashed Bulma a wicked grin, the feral look in his eye intensifying the creepiness of his smile.

Letting the full effect of Vegeta's words sink in, Bulma sank to the floor in a heap, not caring about the condition of her black dress.

"Oh shit! This is just great!" Bulma uttered before she broke down into a sobbing wreck.

_Poor Bulma, or should I say, poor Vegeta? Is Vegeta really telling the truth? Does Bulma even have a choice in the matter and what does Vegeta really think about the situation in question? To find out, you'll have to read the next chapter! Please R&R_


	12. Chapter 12

_Here it is folks! Chapter 12! And again, thanks for all the fabulous reviews. It helps keep me motivated to continue on with this story because I know people are reading and enjoying my little experiment. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ _

_Chapter 12_

Bulma let the tears freely fall from her eyes as she sat on the ground sobbing her heart out. She felt the warm salt-water trickle down her cheeks, leaving visible trails through her smudged and ruined makeup. It felt like her world was coming to an end. How did one stupid kiss end up equating to spending the rest of her natural life with Vegeta, Prince Jerk? Sure, she wanted to get married and have a family someday. What girl didn't want that? But to spend eternity with a mass murderer who didn't know one single thing about love, compassion and understanding was just too much! Maybe dating Vegeta would have been okay Bulma thought realistically. Moreover, after experiencing that kiss, sleeping with him didn't seem like such a bad idea either. But he had thrown a curveball at her that she hadn't even seen coming. Yeah, she had been right about his attraction for her, but why couldn't he go slowly? **_Why???_**

Bulma didn't know how long she had spent sitting in a heap on the floor before she realized that Vegeta was just standing and looking at her. It wasn't until she heard a disgusted "Ugh" coming from the vicinity of where he was that she realized he hadn't left.

Looking up, Bulma wiped her eyes and let out a shuddering breath trying to regain her equilibrium. She felt so out of sorts. She was convinced that Vegeta had somehow managed to drug her because she still felt a little bit disorientated after recovering from his assault on her mouth. On top of that, her emotions where in such a jumble. It was bad enough that she was still recovering from dumping Yamcha, but to have this whole new situation thrown on top of the heap of all of her problems was just too much to comprehend. Besides that, she could sense something wasn't right with her brain. That sense of an external force or entity was still there, like a jumble in the back of her mind. It was weird. She felt like she was seeing herself through someone else's eyes. She could also feel anger, frustration, disgust, lust and a small amount of hurt conflicting with her own emotions. Bulma put the back of her hand to her forehead and shook her head to try to rid herself of all of these thoughts and feelings. She _had_ to get back in control of herself!

Vegeta watched Bulma finally try to gain some self-control. It was disgusting to watch her sob all over again. She had the weakest control over her emotions of anyone he had ever met. Yet watching her blubber and wail on the floor also brought back the uncomfortable feeling of guilt, as though this whole situation was his fault. Added to this was the fact that even watching her make a mess of herself didn't stop Vegeta from wanting to finish what he had unintentionally started when he bit her in the lip. His hormones where raging through his body and he could still taste the warm saltiness of her blood on his tongue. The horrible part of it was that he wanted to keep on tasting her until he had had his fill. Never in his entire life had Vegeta felt such an overwhelmingly strong desire to mate. It was taking all of his vaunted self control not to grab Bulma and do that very thing right at this very moment in the very hallway they were located. Letting out a growl of frustration and unfulfilled need, Vegeta turned around a punched the wall that was behind him on the opposite side of the hallway from Bulma. He poured out his feelings of anger, disgust, and lust into the obliging wall. He also tried to smash the unfamiliar feeling of hurt into non-existence. He did not want to acknowledge the fact that Bulma's hysterics about becoming his life-mate bothered him in the slightest. If he did that, then he would have to admit to himself that what she thought about him mattered. There was no way in hell he would ever lower himself to that point. Never!

Bulma seemed to snap back to reality as soon as she saw Vegeta begin putting his fists through the wall behind him. 'Oh, that's just great!' she thought, thoroughly irritated. 'First he destroys the kitchen and now he's destroying the wall. Doesn't he have any respect for our home? He acts like he's entitled to do whatever the hell he wants to do! And if his stupid yelling hasn't already alerted my Mom that something is up, this will certainly bring her down here and I don't want to have to deal with her _and_ Mr. Temperamental Freak at the same time!' She knew that it probably wouldn't be wise to go anywhere near the enraged Prince, but when had anything ever stopped Bulma from doing what she wanted to do anyway? Still trying to clear her head, she stood up a little unsteadily and then purposefully made her way to where Vegeta was turning their once beautiful hallway wall into an ugly pile of rubble.

Standing directly behind Vegeta, Bulma put her hands on her hips and screeched at him with as much force that she could muster from body.

"Vegeta, stop turning the wall into mincemeat! Honestly, you are the biggest jackass I have ever met in my entire life and I am sick and tired of you treating my home like it's some kind of disposable play toy! Just **_STOP IT!_**" Bulma screamed at the top of her lungs.

Turning around, Vegeta snarled at her. Bulma stopped and backed up a good foot, afraid that she was going find herself pinned up against the wall for the third time that night. There just seemed to be no reasoning with him. It was as if he was possessed by a demon and his new found fangs only lent themselves to the image.

Glaring at Bulma darkly, Vegeta slowly advanced upon the ever so slightly terrified woman standing before him.

"Would you rather be on the receiving end of my anger, Bulma? I don't give a damn about your stupid wall. And if your mother is wise, she'll stay the hell away from this place. Otherwise, I'll blast her and anyone else who interferes."

"What? What are you talking about?" Bulma asked, sounding thoroughly confused. She hadn't mentioned her mother. Looking at Vegeta expectantly, she waited for him to explain himself

"What do you mean what am I talking about? I don't have the patience for your foolish games Woman!" Vegeta growled, before turning around and adding another gaping hole to the already distressed wall.

"Ohh, you are so flipping obnoxious! You _just_ said that you'd blast my mother if she happens to interrupt your royal temper tantrum. The funny thing is, Mr. Smart Ass, I never once mentioned my mother to you." So there! Either she was going nuts, or there was something seriously wrong with the two of them. Looking at the situation logically, his whole talk about mating and opening up telepathic links had sounded far-fetched to Bulma. In truth, she was really hoping that all of his sinister talk about claiming a mate was just another one of the mechanisms he used to gain control of uncertain situations. If there was one thing Bulma knew about Vegeta, he didn't like having to explain himself and he certainly never did anything spontaneously. There was always a reason behind his actions. Always.

Vegeta stilled his hand before it could grind itself into the wall. Turning to Bulma slowly, he looked at her with a mixture of unease and disbelief in his coal black eyes.

Speaking softly, Vegeta confronted Bulma's accusation. "Woman, I'm not warning you again. Therefore, you had better listen carefully. I don't want to play your stupid games and I don't appreciate being lied to or being made the butt of some kind of joke. Such behavior will contribute to you ending up in an early grave. So if you don't want to die slowly and painfully, stop…fucking…_around_…**_with_** …**_ME!! _**Vegeta shouted into Bulma's surprised face. In truth, Vegeta was beginning to panic. Maybe he had gone overboard when he had told Bulma all of that crap about not being able to reverse bonding after the initial bite. He couldn't honestly remember since it had been a very long time ago when Nappa had explained things to him. Then there was the fact that Bulma wasn't even a Saiyan, so maybe such rituals didn't apply to her. _However_, if he was hearing her thoughts unintentionally, that could be very, _very_ bad for both of them. Backing up, Vegeta put both of his hands to his head and tried to clear his mind by shaking it violently. He had to get the hell away from this place to sort things out or else there would be no going back for either of them.

Bulma watched Vegeta as he shook his head. It looked like he was in internal agony and she couldn't help but feel that it was partially her fault. She couldn't stand watching him fight his demons. If only he would clue her into what was going on without acting like a complete bastard. Deciding that the only way for this breech to close up between them would be to admit that she was in the wrong, Bulma decided to cave into Vegeta. The funny thing was, before he had come along, she had never given into anyone. Yet, even when she tried to fight against Vegeta, she somehow always ended up on the losing side. Maybe there really was more to them than she had realized. Sighing, Bulma stepped closer and touched her hand to his forearm. She was slightly afraid. No, make that terrified that Vegeta would punch her or blast her for making physical contact with his royal body. Instead, all he did was stiffen up and shake her hand from his arm.

Putting her hands up in the air, Bulma sighed softly before she finally spoke up. "Fine Vegeta, have it your way. Maybe I said it aloud. Look, why do we have to be like this, huh? Why do we always have to fight with each other? I don't want to be married to you, but I guess I'm not averse to getting to know you a little bit better. I mean, what's the point of continuing to deny that there is something between us? Maybe in a few years, we can think about the whole marriage thing" Yeah, right. Marriage to Vegeta? She had to be deluding herself. Vegeta only confirmed it when he spoke up.

Glaring at her sinisterly, he sneered appreciatively at Bulma, making sure she was watching him fully take an appreciative look at her body, taking special care to leer at her breasts and her thighs.

"Marriage? I thought you wanted to date. Well, I already told you that Saiyans don't date. And you can forget about the whole marriage thing. I am a Prince from an unbroken royal bloodline of the highest ranking and most powerful Elite Saiyans that have ever existed. There is no way that I would ever take a weakling pathetic human as my wife. Perhaps, I _might_ possibly decide to take you on as a concubine, but that would be as far as our relationship would extend. Just remember this Woman: I am powerful and you are weak. Never forget that."

Bulma turned red with embarrassment and hurt. Why was he like that? Why was it whenever she finally felt like she was getting somewhere with him, he would throw everything good back in her face? Sometimes, she just hated him! Moreover, looking at him right now made her tempted to slap the sneering, nefarious expression off his chiseled face. She felt her own anger mingle with the feelings of rage and frustration that were currently lodged firmly in the back of her head. Unconsciously, she stepped closer to the infuriating man standing before her.

Vegeta started to grin slightly without realizing he was doing it. Bulma was moving in, and he had a feeling that sparks where going to be flying between them. Even though he knew it probably wasn't wise for him to linger around Bulma in his current condition, his body wasn't cooperating with his common sense. Before he knew what he was doing, he decided to taunt Bulma into making a move.

Looking into Bulma's eyes, Vegeta motioned her to come closer. He almost out and out grinned when she did his bidding without putting up any sort of resistance. 'She just doesn't learn.' He thought to himself snidely.

"You know, perhaps taking you on as a concubine wouldn't be such a bad idea. I mean, you couldn't do any better. Just think, a low life weakling like you being given the opportunity to pleasure a prince." Vegeta said mockingly. "What trash wouldn't want to experience something like that in their lifetime?" He said the last line so softly, Bulma had to lean into hear what was coming out of his smooth talking, vile mouth. Unfortunately for Bulma, Vegeta's nastiness had taken on a whole new meaning. It was one thing to insult her for petty things, but to basically say she wasn't worthy enough to lick his boots was just too much. She felt the anger in her breast reach a whole new level of intensity. Clenching her fists, she growled sinisterly at Vegeta and let the frustration inside her control what was left of her pride and her common sense.

However, Bulma's reaction to his cruel statements was more than enough to shock and confuse the already unbalanced Saiyan. Before Vegeta even knew what was happening, a sudden light of rage appeared in Bulma's eyes. She let out a bloodcurdling shriek and pounced on him. Her action was so shocking that he didn't move out of the way in time, only to feel the unmistakable sting of a sharp slap across his Princely countenance. Even more shocking was the fact that she had slapped him so hard, a trickle of blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth, mingling with the remainder of Bulma's blood that was still on his chin.

Very slowly, Vegeta raised his hand and wiped away the blood, only to stare in appreciation at the fiery vixen standing in front of him.

"Hmm, you're braver than I thought," Vegeta said appreciatively. Maybe there was more merit to being mated to the wench than he had previously thought. 'No way! She's just a low-class slut! And I am flipping out of my mind!' Vegeta's voice of reason echoed in his mind. But the damage was done. A new facet of this whole bizarre situation had been added the second Bulma attacked him and actually managed to damage him. She didn't know it yet, but she had just moved the bonding process up a notch.

Bulma just stood in shock. 'I'm so dead! I can't believe I just hit him and he didn't even move a muscle.' She moaned to herself. Looking at her shaking hand, she had a feeling she had done some irreparable damage to herself. Hitting Vegeta was like smashing your fist into a concrete barrier. She could feel the pain shooting up her hand and radiating out towards her arm. It made her feel like crying all over again. On top of that, she couldn't figure out what had come over her. She had a inkling that those strange feelings of rage and frustration in the back of her mind had egged her on to kick Vegeta's butt after he had insulted her, making her feel like she was the dirt between his toes. Oh sure, she had wanted to hit Vegeta before, but he'd never actually let her do it. That was the odd part. Something was going to happen, and she did not want to be a part of it. Deciding to high tail it out of there, Bulma calmly turned around and started to head for the door. She had only gone about five steps when she heard Vegeta's unmistakable voice.

"Where do you think you're going? We aren't finished here yet." Bulma stood still, closing her eyes trying to calm down her racing heart. The tone of his voice didn't brook an argument, but it was not as menacing as she thought it was going to be. There was something eerily wrong with this whole situation. Vegeta was acting _too_ calm and such behavior threw Bulma off kilter. She would rather deal with a screaming Vegeta than an over-calm one any day. Bulma didn't bother to turn around when she answered his question. What was the point? She was being a coward and she knew it, but she would save face at least with herself if she didn't have to look at his sneering and condescending image.

"I, uh, I um, forgot my purse in my car." Bulma lied nervously, hoping he would take the bait and let her off of the hook. But since this was Vegeta she was dealing with, Bulma should have realized that her chances of not having to answer to him for actually managing to get a punch in would be slim to non-existent. Bulma wrapped her arms around her body, paying special attention to her sore hand, waiting in tense anticipation for his reply.

"You must think my brains are made out of mush if you actually expect me to believe that lame excuse. Can't you even remember that I was watching you when you pulled in? You encapsulated your car and it's currently in the handbag you left over there on the table by the doorway."

Bulma groaned. Just great! She was such a moron all of a sudden. She didn't know if she should be more afraid or just plain embarrassed that Vegeta had caught her so effectively in her lie. Well, there's just one thing left for a girl to do when the cards are stacked against her: run like hell!

Bulma sprang into action and made a beeline for the door. But, unfortunately for the frantic woman, her efforts were in vain. It was almost like déjà vu when Vegeta fazed in front of her retreating form. This time, though, the stakes where much higher and Bulma didn't want to be on the receiving end yet again of Vegeta's rage. Trying to get past him, Bulma feigned moving to the left towards the living room but Vegeta anticipated her move and grabbed a hold of her body, swinging her neatly around so they were face to face.

"Vegeta, please let me go." Bulma said desperately as she tried to kick her way out of his tight grasp.

Letting Bulma fight him, Vegeta looked carefully at his prize. He had had enough of her attitude. Also, even though he didn't realize it, his body had decided it was time to finish what he had started the moment he had given into temptation and kissed her more intimately than he had planned on.

"No. You need to be taught a lesson Woman." Vegeta smiled maliciously when Bulma's struggles in his arms increased in intensity. All in all, her behavior was extremely stimulating and what little control Vegeta had had over his excited body had disappeared as soon as Bulma had hit him in the face. He could hear his voice of reason screaming at him about why taking Bulma as a mate was a preposterous idea, but his body had other ideas. "It's not nice to lie to people. Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners? Well, I'll teach you a lesson that you'll never forget." With that, he picked up the struggling woman and threw her over his shoulder, not caring that she was feebly punching him in the back. Making sure she was secure, Vegeta slapped her rump hard, which only angered Bulma, making her struggle even more determinedly against him.

"Vegeta!" Bulma yelled. "Let..me…**_GO YOU BIG OVERSIZED, SMELLY PRIMATE_**!" Punching him as hard as she could with her good hand, she tried to maneuver so that she could scream directly into his sensitive eardrums. But her head was hanging halfway down his back and Vegeta wasn't letting up on his grip around her legs. She wanted to cry and gnash her teeth but there was no point in such silly behavior. She had to get loose, she just had to! It wasn't until he started moving towards the stairs that she actually began to panic.

"Vegeta, please, _pu-lease_ let me go! I promise I'll never lie to you again. Or yell at you or hit you! I promise. Just let me go!" Bulma wailed at Vegeta's muscular backside.

"Just shut up Woman!" Vegeta said calmly. "I promise you, you'll like this lesson. I'll make it worth your while." With that, he gently squeezed and massaged her bottom, leaving Bulma in no doubt whatsoever as to what Vegeta's planned punishment was going to be. Blushing at the effect that his touch was having on her, Bulma squeezed her eyes, trying to deny that she was finding anything pleasurable about the way he was groping her. If she didn't get a handle on herself and the situation she found herself in, she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

Noticing that struggling wasn't doing any good at all, Bulma decided to switch tactics and try to reason with Vegeta. 'He doesn't really want to do this with me. He's just making up all this mating garbage so he can scare me into doing what he wants. Please Kami let this all just be a really bad joke!' Bulma though fervently. Bulma seriously regretted ever thinking that sleeping with Vegeta was a good idea. If she didn't get out of his grip, she had a feeling that's exactly what was going to happen to her and there was no way she was going to end up on the losing end of a power struggle with her arrogant and proud houseguest. Knowing he would use such an action as a way to exercise his superiority over her, Bulma hoped she could get him off of his current track of mind before anything serious happened that would change their relationship irrevocably.

"Vegeta, listen to me. You don't want to do this! I know you don't. I mean, haven't you been telling me all this time you think I'm the ugliest person you've ever laid eyes on? Just be reasonable here!" She crossed her fingers that her logical argument would work. She'd even insulted herself! Letting out a sigh of relief when Vegeta suddenly stilled halfway up the stairs, she almost praised God aloud only to be disappointed when Vegeta answered her and not in the way she was intending him to.

"How do you even have an inkling of what I want and what I think Woman? This is a lesson I should have taught you a long time ago, perhaps when we first met on Namek. It is about time you learned who is in control."

"Well if you do anything to me, you depraved lunatic, I'll classify it as rape and then you'll go to prison for the rest of your life!" Bulma yelled, feeling outrage and desperation rise up into her gullet. Vegeta just wasn't being rational.

"Huh, you can call it whatever you like. The truth is you're just trying to cover up the fact that you want it and you just don't want to admit it. And what makes you think that one of your pathetic prisons would hold me if I wanted to get out? Use your head Woman!" With that, Vegeta started back up the stairs and moved his hand on her ass a bit lower, coming uncomfortably close to the juncture between her legs.

"Vegeta, stop groping me! Ooohh, you are so impossible! I don't want to have sex with you! What gives you the idea that I want to? I am trying to get away from you, you big dumbass!" Bulma started to grind her teeth in frustration. She wasn't any closer to getting away from him than when she had started and he was almost to the top of the stairs.

"How do I know, Woman? It's quite simple. I've already told you about the initiation of bonding. That was the first clue that you wanted to mate. Secondly, you responded more intensely then I imagined you would when we touched our mouths together. Thirdly, you physically challenged me even though you know you can never hope to beat me in a fight. And finally, I can smell the fact that you're receptive and I can sense your feelings through the link I opened up with you when I tasted your blood. You can deny it, but it's all out in the open. At any rate, what do you have to complain about? I know you aren't a virgin. Besides that, think of the honor I'm bestowing upon you. The chance to sleep with the Prince of all Saiyans. What woman wouldn't want that experience, hmm?"

Bulma glared at Vegeta's back and then proceeded to punch him as hard as she could without damaging her other hand. "Any woman who has a brain in her head! Look, I don't really think I believe you about this whole bonding process crap. Like you just said, you're trying to be the boss of me. Well, listen up mister! I am not going to do this just because you want to push me around! If you don't let me go this instant, I'm going to scream at the top of my lungs for help making sure to make it look exactly like what it is. You'll never be welcome here again. No more training in the GR and no more free meals, got that Vegeta?"

"Oh, I understand you perfectly. The thing is, I seriously doubt you would do any such thing. You're too much of a coward." Vegeta said tauntingly.

Seeing that they were already up the stairs and only a few feet from Vegeta's room, Bulma quickly swallowed and decided on her course of action. She had to do something fast or else Vegeta would win this round.

"That's what you think Vegeta." Taking in a deep breath, Bulma let out the loudest scream she could without passing out from the force.

"**MOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM, DAAAAAAAAAAADDDD! HELP ME! HELP ME PLEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEE!" **Bulma howled. She stopped abruptly when she found herself back in an upright position, facing the opposite side of the hallway with Vegeta standing behind her, clamping a hand over her screaming mouth.

"Shut up, _shut up_, **_SHUT UP_**!" Vegeta hissed in her ear. Ugh, why did she have to be such a flipping loud mouth? He growled in frustration deciding to take it out on Bulma when he finally got her alone in his room. He was so focused on his course of action, he didn't pay any attention to what Bulma was doing in his arms until it was too late. Biting back a yelp of surprise and pain, Vegeta suddenly felt Bulma's teeth sink into the skin of his hand that was currently covering her obnoxious mouth. Nothing short of stunned, Vegeta let go of her and pushed her away from himself.

Bulma was relieved when she felt herself falling away from Vegeta's intense grip. She couldn't believe she had actually bit him and drawn blood. Who knew her bite was so impressive and powerful? She rolled over on to her bottom and then scrambled to get up and move off to her room as fast as she could.

Vegeta just stood in shock. If anything, this whole situation with Bulma was getting more bizarre by the second. Her biting him had finally caused him to get some semblance of control over his body yet again, but he knew every minute he spent in Bulma's presence meant every minute that he would be closer to spending eternity with the bitch. However, he was torn. She couldn't have any possible knowledge of the significance of what she had just done. But that didn't seem to matter. He watched her roll over onto her butt and stand up, moving away from him and inching herself along the wall to try and get to her room where she thought she would be safe. Part of him wanted to just get the hell away from her, like he'd been trying to do before she had gone and slapped him in the face. But the other part of him was so filled with desire that he didn't care about the consequences of taking her right then and there. Watching her move away, he smiled sinisterly at the retreating woman standing before him.

'So you want to try and maneuver around me? Foolish, stupid woman. Two can play at this game!' He started to move slowly after Bulma.

"Vegeta, I'm warning you! Come any closer and I'll scream bloody murder!"

"Scream if you like. I don't really give a damn. It's all going to end the same, one way or another."

Bulma was afraid and excited at the same time. Never in her entire adult life had she dealt with a male who was so single mindedly intent on a course of action. Not even Yamcha had been this focused when it came to getting in the sack with her over the course of their long-term relationship. And realistically, if Vegeta had never mentioned anything to her about this stupid bonding thing or had threatened to use sleeping with her as a form of punishment, she might just have gone along with him to satisfy her curiosity and attraction for the riotous Saiyan.

Warily watching Vegeta creep down the hallway after her, Bulma almost breathed a sigh of relief when she felt her hand touch the button that opened her bedroom door. Honestly, this night had been the most confusing and most frightening time of her life and she was grateful to finally find herself almost able to enter the sanctuary that her room offered. But the keyword was almost. No sooner had Bulma opened the door, then Vegeta pounced on her before she could get in her room and lock the door. Grabbing Bulma around the waist, he started to pull her towards his room, completely ignoring her feeble attempts to get free.

"You're a very naughty woman Bulma. Not only do you lie, but you bite unsuspecting men as well. And you call yourself civilized."

"Vegeta! Let me go! I don't want this!" Bulma was almost hysterical. This couldn't be happening to her! It all had to be a terrible dream. And where the hell were her parents? She let out a yell when Vegeta bodily yanked her down the hallway to his room.

"Yes you do. Stop fighting it and you'll realize you're as tied to this course of action as I am." He could sense it from her through the preliminary telepathic channel that he had created. Oh yes, she was afraid, as she should be, but there was no denying the fact that she was also as aroused as he was. Growling with pent up frustration, Vegeta punched his fist on the button to open the door, impatiently waiting for it to open. As soon as it did, he started to pull her inside when he heard a gasp that definitely hadn't come from Bulma. Turning around, he saw ditzy Mrs. Briefs wearing a slinky nightgown, her hand over her mouth in shock at what she was seeing. Vegeta shuddered, disgusted with her lack of attire.

"Oh my! Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs said as she watched her daughter struggle to get away from Vegeta.

"Mom! Thank God you're here! Tell Vegeta to lay off of me!" Bulma said, trying to pull away from his distracting presence. But her plea was completely unnecessary.

Stepping away from the doorway, Vegeta let go of Bulma, watching her as she stumbled backwards before she gained control of her footing. He was very conflicted at the moment. On one hand, it was a relief if that ditz had actually shown up because it gave him a legitimate excuse to leave Bulma's intoxicating presence. On the other hand, he did not want anyone to interfere with Bulma and himself as he tried to gain control of his body and finish what they had started downstairs.

"Vegeta, what were you doing to poor Bulma?"

Vegeta just growled at the annoying nitwit. Not even bothering to explain himself, he glared at Bulma and then calmly turned around and walked away.

Bulma couldn't believe it! Only seconds ago, he had been practically intent of ravaging her and now, he was walking away as though nothing had happened, without so much as a by your leave. She heard him walk down the stairs and then leave the house. Part of her was extremely relieved, but the other side of her was really disappointed and confused. He was so puzzling! 'Stupid male,' she thought to herself.

Looking up, she saw her mother, who was looking increasingly concerned for her daughter's well being. Bulma had blood down her chin, a fat lip, was missing a shoe, and her hair looked like it had been caught up in a tornado. On top of that, she knew her daughter had gone on a date and it was more than a bit unusual for her to be home this early.

"Bulma, sweetheart, are you alright?" She asked. She was secretly elated that Bulma had finally come to her senses about that handsome Vegeta. But she was a little concerned at the condition her daughter was in. Maybe Vegeta wasn't all he was cracked up to be.

"What does it look like? I'm bloody, I think my hand is broken, my lip hurts, my new Gucci dress is ruined, I feel like a complete idiot and Vegeta's a complete and total flipping asshole! And what the hell took you so long to show up? I was screaming for you and Dad to help me out. If you would have come back one second later, who knows what condition your only daughter would be in!" Bulma said furiously, taking her rage out on her unsuspecting mother, not caring that she was again feeding into the strange emotions that where in the back of her mind.

"Calm down honey! I tried to get here as fast as I could, but I was tied up at the moment." Mrs. Briefs let out a titter and blushed.

"Oh my God Mom, I don't want to know!" Bulma said, almost gagging at the though of her parents doing the deed. They were old, for Kami's sake!

Ignoring her daughter's disgusted look, Mrs. Briefs decided to take control of the situation. "Come on dear. Let's go down to the kitchen and I'll fix you a nice cup of tea and you can tell me what's bothering you." Motioning her daughter to follow, Mrs. Briefs made her way down to the kitchen.

After Bulma was settled in and drinking the cup of soothing chamomile tea her mother had prepared, Bulma let out a sigh. What a night! She knew that things between her and Vegeta were in no way resolved. Why did relationships have to be so damn complicated?

"So, sweetie, are you going to tell me what happened? You look like a dinosaur ran over you."

Bulma let out a long sigh and brushed some of her hair out of her face before she answered her mother's question.

"I went on that date. It was a blind date and I'm sorry to say that it didn't work out. I came back home early, only to find Prince Stick Up his Royal Ass waiting so he could torment me. We got in a fight. Somehow, he ended up getting the upper hand and we ended up…uh, kissing." Bulma blushed furiously as she saw the sappy romantic look her mother had on her face. Bulma quickly interjected before she could get the wrong idea. "It's not what you think. It was a mistake, I swear it Mom! Vegeta got a little carried away and bit my lip. The whole situation got out of control, I somehow managed to slap him in the face and he was in the process of trying to punish me when you finally showed up." Bulma said hurriedly. The less her mother knew about the details of her assignation with Vegeta, the better.

But Bulma's mom wasn't as stupid as she looked. She knew her daughter was hiding pertinent information. It had looked like a whole lot more had been going on between the two of them when she came to Bulma's rescue. Besides that, Vegeta must have really been in a pissed off state seeing the condition of her wall in the hallway. Yet he hadn't really hurt her daughter. All of this stimulated her mind to start thinking of wedding cakes and dresses. She knew her daughter needed a man who could stand up to her and not be bullied around by her independence, sharp whit and equally sharp tongue. Although she had dearly loved Yamcha and was sad that her daughter had broken up with him, she had seen realistically that a relationship between the two of them would never amount to anything permanent. Yet she had seen from the beginning that Vegeta was more than her daughter's equal when it came to being stubborn and domineering. They were the perfect match for each other, if only they could let themselves see it. Deciding to let her daughter think she hadn't seen through her front, she began to move the subject in question along.

"So, Bulma. What are you planning on doing now?" She asked as she took a sip of the warm tea she was holding in her hand.

"Well, whenever Vegeta shows up again, I'm going to chew him out royally. And after that, I'm swearing off men for life. They're all a bunch of testosterone driven maniacs and I hate them. Men suck!" Bulma said angrily. With that, she pushed her tea away, stood up and purposefully made her way back upstairs to her room where she could peacefully think of how to piece her life back together again.

_Has Bulma really sworn off men for life? And what about Vegeta? Where did he run off to in such a hurry? Does it have anything to do with the possible fact that he and Bulma might be potentially bonding together as a couple? You'll find all these answers in the next chapter! As always, please read and review!_


	13. Chapter 13

_It's here! Chapter 13! Thanks again and again for all the great reviews! I appreciate them more then you could ever know! _

_Chapter 13 _

_A few days later, somewhere in the mountains…_

A fire was burning merrily in the dark expanse of the mountains north of West City. The night had finally enveloped the area in total and complete darkness, in part because Piccolo had blown up the moon long ago. Sitting near the fire was a lone figure gnawing on the remains of what must have been a gigantic specimen of _Apatasaurus. _The shadows flickered around the figure and his dinner, casting a sense of eerieness on the scene at hand that made even the most skilled and knowledgeable scavengers too afraid to approach the giant carcass.

Vegeta grunted as he threw the bone that he had just stripped of meat onto the neat pile behind him. He had been completely famished. It was the first real meal he had had since that fateful night when he had pretty much sealed his future with Bulma. Leaning back, he let out a long, loud and satisfied belch. Rubbing his belly contentedly, Vegeta looked at the remains of the dinosaur he had just consumed, amazed by the fact that he was still able to move around, albeit a bit more slowly. Sighing, he lay down on his back with his hands behind his head, staring at the starry expanse above him. How had he, one of the fiercest galactic terrorists the universe had ever known, ended up in this position? It was mind boggling just how much that stupid woman had probably changed his life irrevocably.

Vegeta closed his eyes and tried to squeeze that thought out of his head. "I won't believe that. Things haven't changed. She still is an obnoxious, overbearing hussy who hasn't learned her proper place. I don't want her as my mate, not in a million years!" Vegeta practically shouted at the sky above him. Growling under his breath, he sat up trying to decide what he needed to do to get Bulma out of his system permanently. Doing so caused him to feel a tightness in his gut making him realize he probably had eaten too much too fast and if he didn't move carefully, he'd regret it in a manner of seconds. Lying back down again, Vegeta tried to come up with solutions that would stop the inevitable from occurring. But the only two ideas he came up with were more than a little unsatisfactory. He could kill Bulma, but since they had already started bonding and were probably already halfway there to being completely bound to one another, he was afraid such an action would have negative consequences for himself. And if he was honest with himself, the thought of killing Bulma, whose life he had already saved once before, was rather unsettling although he didn't know why that would be. His only other idea was to go back to Capsule Corp., find Bulma and finish bonding with her. But of course that idea was completely unacceptable in Vegeta's eyes, since the whole dilemma he was in revolved around making that final and unchangeable decision.

"Gods, this situation is completely unbearable!" Vegeta muttered as he watched a meteor skim across the night sky. Pounding his fists into the ground, Vegeta tried to get a reign on his turbulent emotions. He was still recovering from the blow to his pride that Bulma had caused when she had out and out rejected him, even if he hadn't been in his right mind at the time. And to make matters worse, the longer he'd spent out here, the more he realized that he had gone way too far with Bulma and he couldn't put all of the entire blame on her. He could sense her presence in the back of his mind. They weren't completely bound to one another because they hadn't fused their minds into one, but the initial telepathic link he had created with her hadn't faded liked he hoped it would. 'So much for thinking that her lack of telepathy and the fact that she isn't Saiyan would make any difference.' Vegeta thought darkly to himself. If he had been the crying type, he would've broken down into a sobbing mess just like Bulma had after he had clued her into what they had done to one another. Instead, the only thing he could do was keep his mind focused on training and completely off of Bulma. Which was proving to be a very difficult task.

Even being hundreds of miles away from the source of his discomfort, Vegeta couldn't stop thinking about Bulma and how close he had come to mating with her. And it was all because of that stupid telepathic link. Being able to sense her feelings was acting like a lure. It was taking all of his concentration not to go back to West City. He was pretty sure Bulma wasn't having as much of a hellish time as he was. Coming out here to the middle of nowhere had been Vegeta's solution to help him get back in control of his body and to be able to think clearly back to when Nappa had explained the whole mating process to him when he was an adolescent. He'd been meditating for the last few days, concentrating on finding a solution to his predicament. However, unfortunately for Vegeta, when he finally jogged his memory back to that day long ago, the answers he got where not the ones he wanted to remember.

_Flashback: Approximately fifteen years in the past near a distant planet…_

Agros IV wasn't a very appealing planet, but it made up for it's lack of pizzazz with its vast quantities of rare and expensive minerals nestled near the surface of the planet's crust. The planet itself was a vast dry wasteland pockmarked with craters and interstellar debris. It was famous throughout the galaxy for its extreme heat, sulphurous atmosphere, extremely poisonous life forms and excessively primitive inhabitants. But what they lacked in technology and sophistication, they more then made up for with their viciousness and tenacity. There was a very good reason why Argos had never been conquered. Simply put, most people with any common sense were too afraid to get near the planet. Conditions on the planet surface made it difficult for anyone to survive without artificial life support and most aliens weren't strong enough to fight the brutal Argosians. Most aliens except for possibly the Saiyans.

Frieza had been interested in laying his slimy, greedy hands on Argos for a very long time, but he hadn't had the time to go and destroy the inhabitants himself. He was a terrifying dictator over the known galaxy and his philosophy was this: Why get your hands dirty when you can have someone else do it for you? He had never considered sending the remaining Saiyans to purge the planet because he had thought they were too precious a commodity to be possibly killed in a scrimmage by the vile and disgusting Argosians. However, his opinion changed when Vegeta purposefully killed one of his favorite lackeys during a fight match on board his ship. The stupid brat had done it willingly, knowing it would piss Frieza off to no end being challenged indirectly. Angrily summoning the young teenager to his throne room, Frieza waited patiently for the snot nosed monkey to show his dastardly face.

Vegeta swaggered into the throne room, his usual smirk plastered across his face. He knew why Frieza had summoned him and it pleased him that his little game had worked. Frieza was so easy to manipulate, it wasn't even funny.

Seeing the condescending expression on the vile little monkey's face added fuel to Frieza's rage. That boy needed to learn who was the boss around here and it certainly wasn't him.

"So Vegeta, I see that you defeated and killed Mr. Frosty." Frieza said calmly to the boy standing before him. "That wasn't very nice of you. I remember specifically telling you that I will not permit the needless deaths of my most trusted fighters in the fight ring and you directly disobeyed my orders. You know I think highly of you, my sweet little monkey, but not highly enough to let this little insubordination go unpunished." Vegeta visibly grimaced when Frieza leered at him. The alien was the creepiest creature that Vegeta had seen in his short lifetime and he had seen a lot of strange things during his career as Frieza's personal planet purger.

"So what if I killed him? He was a worthless buffoon who underestimated my strength and did not give me the respect I deserve as the last Prince of the Saiyan people. It was within my rights as a Prince to take such behavior as an insult where, if he were on Vegetasai, such a death would be permissible."

"Well, we are not on Planet Vegeta, are we? Unfortunately, your planet met with a rather pathetic end. Instead, we are on my spaceship and as such, you will obey my rules or suffer the consequences!" With that, Frieza got up off of his throne and came down to where Vegeta was standing defiantly against him. The boy seriously needed to learn a lesson and Frieza was going to teach him just how much it hurt when you messed around with the Cold family. Standing in front of Vegeta, Frieza calmly lifted his hand and slapped the insolent boy across the face. When Vegeta only wiped the blood that was coming from his mouth without loosing the snotty expression on his face, Frieza kneed him in the groin and sent him flying across the room. Waiting for Vegeta to stand up after such a blow, knowing the force of the impact had probably damaged some of his internal organs, Frieza became even angrier when Vegeta made not one sound of pain or agony. Aside from the fact that he rose slowly, one would never even know how much damage Frieza had inflected on the stubborn Prince.

"You are too stubborn for your own good Vegeta and one day, it will lead to your downfall. However, I'm in a forgiving mood today. Although Mr. Frosty was one of my personal favorite fighters, I think I'll go easy on you." Walking up to the boy, Frieza ran his finger along Vegeta's jaw line. He smiled inwardly noting how Vegeta unconsciously flinched and recoiled from his touch. The brat wasn't as immune to Frieza's taunting as he made himself out to be, which in Frieza's opinion was a good thing. Backing away from Vegeta, Frieza turned his back and started walking towards his throne, motioning Vegeta to follow him. Settling himself in, he crossed his legs and waited for Vegeta to kneel like he required all of his flunkeys to do. Frieza knew that it galled the boy to bow before another, but having a powerful Prince like Vegeta show submission only fed into Frieza's oversized psyche.

Vegeta slowly made his way to the foot of Frieza's throne, trying to ignore the pain that was radiating out of his belly. Frieza had hurt him badly, but it was a matter of pride that kept the young Saiyan from falling over in agony. Growling menacingly under his breath, he knelt down even when doing so both caused him more pain and added on to his sense of being an inadequate heir to the Saiyan Throne. He remembered when his father had come in defiance to kill Frieza, only to be completely destroyed by the tyrant. Vegeta often made himself think that his father had been weak and deserved death, but in reality, he often wished he had enough guts to face Frieza down. Not doing so only made Vegeta feel as though he was a coward, so he instead turned to proving his worth as a Saiyan by taking on dangerous purging missions and by whittling away at Frieza's most trusted subordinates. They were they only things he had left besides his pride that kept him going in the face of being a slave for the most powerful being in the universe.

Smiling victoriously at the boy, Frieza let out a tsk as he shook his head condescendingly at the Prince. "Vegeta, Vegeta my fine young boy, you do this to yourself and it saddens me greatly! I took you in when you had no where else to go. If you would just submit completely to me, your life would be that much simpler! You would have a place of honor at my right side and the universe would cower in fear at the sound of your name. But instead, you choose this silly path of resistance to the natural order of things. Well, I suppose I can understand where you are coming from. Saiyans, as I recall, were always rather slow at the uptake." Frieza said mockingly, sneering contemptuously at the kneeling monkey before him.

Vegeta felt the rage in his chest explode when Frieza insulted both him and his people. How dare he say such things! Standing as quickly as he was able to, ignoring the excruciating pain his body was experiencing, Vegeta was about to unwisely attack Frieza when he heard the sound of clapping.

"Bravo Vegeta! What a show!" Frieza said as he clapped in a ridiculing fashion. "You're much braver and much more foolish than even I could imagine. But I don't want to have to kill you, so you had better kneel back down like a good boy before I have to do anything drastic. And believe me Vegeta, you do not want that to happen." Watching as Vegeta knelt back down at the foot of the dais his throne was located upon, Frieza continued on with the punishment Vegeta was going to have to suffer through.

"Now, I'm under the impression you just got out of solitary confinement in the hole for telling Zarbon he looked like a green haired freak of a sissy. Perhaps that punishment was a little harsh. Zarbon is too sensitive when it comes to insults about his looks. Be that as it may, I think I can understand why you were foolish enough to kill Mr. Frosty. I know I would have a lot of pent up aggression if I were stuck in the dank bowels of the ship for three days. So I've decided to go easy on you. Would you like to know what I have planned for you Vegeta? Say "Yes Master Frieza" and I'll let you in on the details, what do you say, Vegeta? " He just loved to play power games with Vegeta. It was very stimulating to his mind.

Vegeta growled and then said as quietly as possible the required catch phrase while he glared daggers at the repulsive lizard sitting in front of him.

"Oh Vegeta, you're finally starting to learn, though it's taken you the better part of ten years to figure it out. Just for that, I'm going to give you a job that I know you'll love. Are you interested in hearing more?" Not waiting for Vegeta's answer, Frieza continued on. "I'm going to send you on a purging mission. I know how much you love them Vegeta. But it's not going to just be any old purging mission. I think you'll find it to be more than challenging, and I know how much you love challenges. There is a planet in the Katar system that I've had my eye on for quite some time. It's called Argos IV. Have you heard of it?"

Vegeta shook his head in the affirmative, careful to mask the excitement he felt at the prospect of defeating that foul place.

"Good. Well, you must know that it is a very challenging environment, but the planet has spectacular resources that I must get my hands on. I've decided to send you and that other dim-witted Saiyan you keep around to Argos to purge it of all life forms. It should be simple for you, seeing as Argos has a nice full moon that comes out every two weeks. Defeat Argos, and I will forget about your treachery against Mr. Frosty. Do we have a deal Vegeta?" Frieza asked, knowing that Vegeta would never refuse such an assignment. It would be interesting to see if he actually succeeded. No one else he had sent there had ever come back alive and if they did, they were usually insane.

Vegeta only shook his head in acceptance of Frieza's orders for him and Nappa. Seeing and understanding that was all Vegeta was going to do, Frieza gave him his dismissal. Before Vegeta got to the door, he spoke up from his throne.

"And Vegeta? Go put yourself in a medical machine. I couldn't live with myself if you were destroyed on Argos because of an injury I inflicted upon you." With that, Frieza started to laugh at the top of his lungs, only pissing off Vegeta as he slowly made his way to where Nappa was. Screw Frieza! He'd go to the medical wing as soon as he was good and ready.

Making his way down the corridor to where Nappa and he shared a room, Vegeta punched the button on the door and was shocked at the scene that unfolded in front of him. Nappa was naked and he was doing something to one of the painted women that lived on Frieza's ship! It was completely revolting! Getting control over himself, Vegeta glared at the giant Saiyan who still didn't realize he had company.

"Nappa! What in blazes are you doing in my room?" Vegeta roared as loudly as his pre-pubescent voice would allow. Hearing the voice of his Prince, Nappa dropped the naked woman he was holding and swallowed nervously at the young Prince standing outside of the door. The girl he had just dropped had the presence of mind to grab her cloths and leave, which left Nappa not only embarrassed by the interruption, but also frustrated because he couldn't finish doing what his body wanted at the moment.

"Vegeta, I thought you were still in the brig!" Nappa yelled out.

"Well, you thought wrong! And put some clothes on! You look disgusting naked." Then Vegeta's eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of Nappa's male anatomy. "Gods Nappa, what did that woman do to you? Sick!" He said disgustedly

Nappa muttered under his breath about how young kids shouldn't talk back to their elders but he quickly put his fighting clothes on that he had thrown on the floor in his haste to get undressed for the prostitute he had solicited. Sometimes, he absolutely hated the fact that he shared a room with Vegeta. The kid still hadn't reached the stage in life where women were interesting and he was always around, making it close to impossible for Nappa to sow his wild oats. He always secretly thanked the Gods when Vegeta got thrown into the hole for deliberately pissing off Frieza because it meant he had their room to himself and he didn't have to skulk around after receptive females. He was going to be glad when Vegeta finally went through the change of life and by some of the signs Vegeta had been giving off lately, Nappa knew it would only be a matter of time before he could be more open about his sex life.

Seeing that Nappa was finally decent, Vegeta walked into the room trying to hide the fact that he was having a difficult time holding out against the pain Frieza had inflicted on his body.

"We have a purging assignment." He said simply to the big man.

Well, if there was one thing that could help Nappa recover from the disappointment of not being able to have a good time with a lady, purging was definitely it. And it was about damned time too! He and Vegeta had been stuck ship side for well over a month, and beating up Frieza's men only helped so much. Killing challenging opponents was what Nappa lived for. Looking at the Prince eagerly, he waited for Vegeta to give him the specifics of their mission.

"Frieza is sending us on a very challenging mission, one I think you'll enjoy just as much as I will. Have you ever heard of Argos IV?"

Nappa's jaw dropped at the mention of that infamous planet. "No way Vegeta. You can't be serious. Frieza's sending us to Argos?" Nappa liked challenging opponents, but he'd heard enough horror stories of the inhabitants of Argos and its horrid conditions to know that the chances of surviving such a mission were slim to none. He wasn't old yet and he didn't particularly want to die. "What did you do to piss of Frieza that he's sending us to that hellhole?"

Vegeta growled at Nappa and then winced in pain. "Nothing you old fool! I planned this on purpose. You've been whining about not having enough of a challenge. I heard some of Frieza's fighters talking about Argos and thought it would be a perfect fit. I killed one of his favorites after I got out of the brig, knowing he would be royally pissed off. He played right into my hands and now we will be able to show Frieza that we aren't someone he can take lightly." After he finished explaining the situation, Vegeta moved over to his bed and sat down. His body was killing him and he knew he was bleeding internally. Nappa noticed right away that something wasn't right with Vegeta. He'd been with the kid since he was a baby and although he would never admit it to Vegeta, he thought of the pompous brat as his own child.

"Vegeta, what did Frieza do to you? I know you can't help taunting the creep whenever you get called in for insubordination."

"He kneed me in the groin. I'm fine so mind your own damned business."

"Uh Vegeta, you're bleeding out of your mouth. I know you don't like it when I tell you what to do, but I think you better get your ass down to the infirmary before you end up keeling over." Vegeta only nodded his head. Standing up slowly, he made his way to the doorway, where he stopped and faced Nappa.

"We'll leave as soon as I get out of the medical machine." With that he left, leaving Nappa free to find the prostitute he'd been enjoying before his Prince had rudely interrupted him.

One week later on the remains of Argos IV… 

Vegeta sat with Nappa in the center of the huge crater their spacepods had made when they had landed on Argos the day before. So far the mission had been a success. The Argosians were roughly equal in power to Nappa when he was in his untransformed state and the physical environment lent itself in favor of the natives. But they were no match for either Vegeta or Nappa when they transformed. They had landed yesterday in the midst of a full moon and had promptly wiped out half of the population before the moon had set and they had gone back to normal. On top of that, because of Vegeta's near death experience, his power had increased dramatically after he got out of the medical machine. He felt invincible for the most part, but he had noticed that something wasn't quite right about himself at the same time. Asking the terrified doctor what was wrong with him, he had been disgusted when the creature told him he was perfectly fine for a Saiyan of his age and size. It wasn't the satisfactory answer he had been looking for.

Nappa looked over at his young counterpart. He could sense there still wasn't something right with Vegeta. This planet was a hellhole, but he should have been celebrating the ease of their success, not sitting in glum silence. After tonight, they would be able to finish their mission and report back to Frieza. Nappa wanted to get a load of the creepy pink freak's face when he saw that both he and Vegeta made it back with hardly a scratch on their bodies. Looking over at Vegeta, he handed him some of the rations they had brought along. Since everything here on Argos was pretty much poisonous, the two of them had had to bring along their own food or else suffer the consequences. Vegeta took the food Nappa offered him and began stuffing it into his face without so much as a thank you, but Nappa was used to Vegeta's surliness. However, his current preoccupation was a little unsettling to Nappa.

"What's wrong with you Vegeta? You usually have something to say about how pathetic the weaklings are that we wipe out, but you've hardly opened your mouth since we got here."

"It's nothing. Don't concern yourself with me." Vegeta was suddenly embarrassed when his voice cracked in the middle of his sentence. He glared at Nappa when the big Saiyan slapped his knee and started laughing.

"Could you repeat that Vegeta? Ha ha! How'd that go again? 'It's nothing.' Nappa said in a high falsetto voice. Mimicking Vegeta's cracking voice, he repeated the second sentence, making sure to end the 'me' a good octave lower then where he had started out.

"Shut up!" Vegeta yelled only again to have his voice crack in the middle, making it sound like he was strangling. What the bloody hell was wrong with his voice?

Still laughing, Nappa ignored the look of embarrassed anger radiating from Vegeta. "Hell Vegeta, I know what's wrong with you. You're going through your change of life! Let me guess. You woke up from that damned medical machine only to realize you had hair growing where it didn't belong and that you suddenly have an insatiable need to find out what it's like to be around women! And now your voice is changing over too. Ah, this is too much!"

"I don't know what you're talking about Nappa!" Vegeta said, slightly relieved when his voice didn't crack again. Although, if what Nappa said was true, it would make sense about some of the strange feelings and dreams he'd been having for the past few months. He'd always wondered when he would get as big as Nappa and have a deep voice, not the sissy one he currently had. Maybe that was what he was talking about.

"Yeah, you probably don't. What you need it a woman Vegeta. I know! How 'bout we round up an Argosian woman. I'd bet she'd make for a stimulating evening." Nappa said, promptly laughing as his dumb wit.

"Nappa, if you don't shut your mouth this instant, I'm going to blast you where you're ugly mug is taking up space."

"Aw come on Vegeta, can't a guy have a little fun? I was joking about the Argosian woman thing. As far as I can tell, they don't even look humanoid and you'd have to be a pretty sick pervert to want to get laid by one of them. You probably still don't really appreciate women Vegeta, but I bet in a couple of months that's all you're going to think about. And when that time comes, good ol' Nappa will set you up with some prime ass, if you know what I mean." Nappa replied good naturedly, nudging Vegeta with his elbow.

"If getting some ass entails what you were doing with that woman back on the ship, I think I'll pass." He still couldn't get over what Nappa had looked like. Vegeta thought he was scarred for life after that incident.

"You say that now, but I guarantee you that once you hit your plateau, women are all you're going to think about besides fighting. At least until you find your life-mate."

"Life-mate? This all sounds ridiculous. Why would I want to have somebody mated to me for life?" Vegeta asked the bald giant irritably. Nappa was probably having a good time rubbing in the fact that he knew more than Vegeta about certain things.

"Because Vegeta, that's the way it is with Saiyans. I suppose you really don't know, seeing as you were a kid when Vegetasai, may it rest in peace, was destroyed by that comet. We Saiyans aren't really a very affectionate people, but when it comes time to settle down for reproductive necessity, we are stuck together for life." Nappa suddenly got a far off look on his face, as though he was remembering some pleasant incident from his past. Growling in disgust, Vegeta punched Nappa in the side to make him focus his attention back onto the story he was telling. And no matter that Vegeta thought the whole thing sounded stupid, he was curious because he would get to learn a little bit more about the culture he could barely remember living in.

"Ouch you dumb brat, what'd you do that for?" Nappa said as he held his side in pain.

"Show a little respect for your Prince if you know what's good for you."

"Yeah, I know Vegeta. Still, I was thinking about a pleasant memory."

"I don't care! I want to know more about this mating thing. So get on with the story before I decide to blast your hide for disobeying me."

"Fine," Nappa said irascibly, thinking how it would be nice once in while if the young punk would treat him with the respect his age deserved. Sighing, he continued on with his story. "Saiyans mate for life. One day, you'll be minding your own business, when you'll run across someone that affects you like no other female before has. Maybe it's the way they talk to you or look at you. They'll drive you up the wall because more than likely, they won't treat you the way you think you should be treated. It's like a viscous cycle. Once you get hooked, there is no going back. You'll instinctively know that that person is whom you're meant to spend the rest of your life with even if they seem like the last person you'd ever pick for yourself. You'll challenge each other either verbally or physically. If you accept the challenge, you're pretty much done for."

Vegeta didn't like the sound of this so far. "Done for? What do you mean? They kill you?" What Nappa was saying just didn't make any sense.

"No, Vegeta. Why would you kill each other if you were going to be bonded mates? Think a little here and pay attention!"

Vegeta just glared at Nappa, waiting for him to hurry up with his ridiculous story.

"Alright. Where was I? Oh yeah! So, like I was saying, once you accept a challenge, you heat up the process. For the most part, you can't really stand each other. All you're going to do is think about how irritating they are, but at the same time, you won't be able to get them out of your mind. Eventually, you realize that you're going to have to bond with them which involves mating. Now listen closely Vegeta, because I'm only going to tell you this once. You can sleep with a woman and it doesn't mean you have to be bound to that woman. But once you accept a challenge, you're stuck with that person forever, so you better use your head when it comes time for you to take a mate. But in all honestly, you don't really have much choice in the matter."

"I get that. But what is this whole bonding thing and what does it have to do with mating?" Vegeta muttered out crankily. Nappa wasn't very good at telling stories and Vegeta wasn't very good at listening to them without becoming impatient.

"It has everything and nothing to do with bonding. Like I said, you can have sex with as many women as you want during your lifetime and it doesn't mean you're going to bond with them. But once you find that person who's going to be your life mate, mating seals the deal forever. After you guys have challenged each other, you both are going to want to get in the sack eventually to finish the process. There are a lot of steps involved in bonding, and each one locks you in place for the final destination. The first thing Saiyans do after the initial challenge is to bite each other. Usually it's the male that initiates biting. Since we are telepathic, bonding uses our special talent but makes it unique to the pair in question. When you bite a Saiyan of the opposite sex and taste their blood initially, you open up an emotional link between each other. But it has to be completed by both Saiyans, otherwise a whole lot of bad things can happen."

Vegeta looked at Nappa skeptically. Bad things happen? The whole bonding process sounded like a bad thing to him.

"I'm serious Vegeta! You don't want to mess with bonding. I've known Saiyans that have gone temporarily insane from screwing it up!" Nappa knew Vegeta didn't believe him, but he was still young and he'd eventually figure out Nappa was telling him the truth when it finally happened to him.

"And that's it? You bite each other and you're suddenly bound for life? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"I'm not finished Vegeta. Haven't you been listening? I already told you, you have to mate with your partner to seal the bond. I'm just in the beginning phase. So anyway, like I was saying. You both have to bite each other to connect on an emotional level. Usually, it's on the lip or the earlobe, but it can be anywhere. After this is done, you'll be able to feel what they're feeling, no matter where you are. Once that's accomplished, your body will take over and you'll want to find a nice private place where you can sleep with your partner. This might sound a little repulsive, but just bear with me. When you reach your peak, you'll have in insatiable desire to complete bonding by biting your partner in the junction between their neck and shoulder. It's called the bond bite. Since you are already sort of linked to one another, when you bite each other simultaneously in the neck, you'll completely open your mind to the other person, sharing your history and thoughts and you're entire being with them. It's like nothing you'll ever experience. Afterwards, you'll be part of a whole with that other person, even if you still don't like them very much. It has its downsides, but boy, it has its upsides as well. Being connected like that takes sex to a whole other level."

"And that's it? I still think it sounds stupid and I'd kill myself before I'd allow anyone to know what I'm feeling or thinking. That's too much of a liability."

"Yeah, I guess it is in a way. But it's really not that bad, and you can hide your thoughts and feelings from your other partner as well. You don't have to be an open book. The only time you are is when you complete the bond. So that's it." Nappa leaned back and looked at the sky, reminiscing about his life before he became Vegeta's bodyguard and before his home planet had been destroyed.

However, Vegeta still wasn't satisfied. There were a lot of questions floating around in his head. Looking at the reclining Saiyan, Vegeta asked the first question that popped into his head.

"What if, say you both bite each other and link with each other initially, you suddenly decide you don't want to continue. What do you do to stop the whole thing from happening?" There had to be some way to stop it.

"You can't stop the process once you bite each other the first time. I already told you that!" Nappa growled out irritably.

"I know idiot. I'm just saying what if a Saiyan decides it's the wrong person or something like that. What would happen if they decided not to finish bonding with one another?"

"Well, if they tried to stop it, the best thing would probably be to get away from the other Saiyan as quickly as possible. But the thing is, you're emotionally linked with one another. No matter how far apart you are from one another, you'll be able to feel what the other person is feeling. Your feelings will feed into each other and guide your actions. In the same manner, even before you bite each other, if one of you is stronger telepathically, you can influence the weaker person, even through sleep. Sharing dreams is probably the first sign after the initial challenge has been accepted that you're going to end up being life-mates. So even if you try to run away, your feelings and their feelings are going to act like a lure. No matter how much you try to deny them, they're still going to be in the back of your head."

"Fine, so you will always have their dumb feelings in the back of your head. But you can still survive and stay away from them at the same time without completing the bond, right?" He had to know. There was no way he was ever going allow himself to end up in a situation like that. Forget it!

"I suppose so Vegeta, but I don't think it'll be easy. Actually, I heard of a Saiyan who tried to do exactly that. But it backfired on him. The longer he stayed away, the more his thoughts became consumed with finishing the process. By the time he finally got around to completing the bond, he was insane with desire, emaciated because he had lost the desire to eat and everyone said he lost his fighting ability until he finally got the process over with because he was so consumed with the desire to mate. So, in the long run, it'll save you a whole lot of trouble if you just get it over with in the beginning. Afterwards, you don't have to see other except for when you want a little action. It's a pretty loose system and it works well with the Saiyan lifestyle."

Vegeta just rolled his eyes. He made up his young mind then and there that he would never allow himself to get in that situation. He'd just swear off women. How hard could it be? Looking at Nappa, he decided to do a little private investigation of his own. Nappa seemed to know way too much about this mating thing to have never been bound himself.

"So I take it you went through that whole god-awful experience, since you seem so knowledgeable."

"Yeah, maybe I did. It was a long time ago and I'd rather not talk about it." Nappa said quietly. For all of his crassness and desire for women, Nappa was still trying to get over the loss of his mate from when Planet Vegeta had been destroyed. He hadn't ever really liked the woman, but he hadn't realized how much she had become a part of his life until he had lost her for good. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had a young Prince to look after, he probably would have gone off to fight someone in battle and died. Shaking his head to wake up from his reverie, Nappa looked up at the sky just in time to see the moon beginning to rise on the horizon. Vegeta also saw the same thing.

Standing up at the same time, they both took control of their thoughts and decided it was time to rile up the Argosians for a good fight.

"Let's go Nappa. This planet is challenging, but I don't want to have to stay here any longer than necessary."

Smirking at his smaller counterpart, Nappa nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, right Vegeta. Let's go kill some Argosian scum! And then when we get back to the ship, I'll treat you to one of the best whores on Frieza's ship!"

Vegeta just rolled his eyes as the two of them made their way out of the crater they had been hiding in. For all that his body was changing, the idea of getting it on with one of Frieza's prostitutes was more than a little repulsive, especially since he would forever remember walking in on Nappa in the middle of an excursion. It was just too disgusting!

_Back to the present situation at hand…_

Vegeta sat up slowly so as not to disturb his extended stomach as he glared moodily into the flames of his fire. It was irritating him to no end that the overly dim-witted giant had been right about the bonding process every step of the way. Now he really wished he'd paid more attention and kept in the forefront of his mind. If he had done so, he wouldn't be in his current predicament. Running his tongue over his teeth, he could still feel the sharp points of his fangs, even though they had retracted partially once he and gotten far enough away from Bulma.

"Well Nappa, I guess you're probably having the last laugh. But guess again. Maybe I will go insane, but I refuse to bond with that woman. I refuse!" He shouted into the night. He could do it. Last night, he'd snuck back into Capsule Corp. to pick up some extra clothes and armor. He could live out here in the mountains and sustain himself on the plentiful game. And he could work on attaining Super Saiyan without having Bulma constantly around pestering him and driving him crazy with her scent, her body, her vivaciousness, her… Stopping himself angrily, he blasted a near by rock with his energy trying to get his thoughts back on a proper track. Nappa had been so right about Bulma's emotions feeding into his own. He had to be extra vigilant if he wanted to keep from going back to Capsule again to finish the process. Trying to relax his mind, Vegeta decided to take a nap. He was too full to do any real training and he needed to calm down. Lying back down, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep that, unfortunately for him, involved a certain blue haired woman who he was trying desperately not to think about.

_Whew, that was a long one. Sorry that there was no Bulma, but I thought I'd give you guys a little background about why Vegeta is in so much trouble when it comes to our blue haired heroine. The next chapter I think will look at Bulma's point of view about the very disturbing thoughts she's having about Vegeta (cause you know they're empathetically linked! Ha Ha!) Let me know what you thought of this chapter and as always, please read and review!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Okay folks! Here it is: chapter 14! Last time, we saw how Vegeta was doing after he uh, accidentally bit Bulma in the lip during a passionate kiss (whoo-hoo!). Bulma, unknowingly bit Vegeta in the hand trying to get away from the passion driven Saiyan, thus completing the second phase in the bonding process and unwittingly opening her mind up to an empathic link with our handsome Saiyan Prince. How is she doing? Does she even know what's going on? Well, read on to find the answers!_

_Chapter 14_

_About two months after the fateful night where Bulma and Vegeta found themselves in a compromising position…_

Bulma was sitting all alone in the bowels of Capsule Corp. working on a top-secret project late at night. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. Her test diagnostics had come back with positive results, which meant that she could start doing a series of initial tests that would make sure the product she was developing would meet the exceedingly high standards put out by Capsule's research and development program.

Looking at the clock that was on the opposite wall, Bulma realized how late it was. Leaning back in her chair, the blue haired goddess let out a loud yawn, stretching her arms out behind her. She always managed to lose track of time when she worked down in the lab by herself. Feeling the low rumble of her stomach, she decided it was time to leave the lab, go visit the kitchen to grab a midnight snack and to finally head up to her rooms to get a decent night sleep. Standing up from the stool she was currently occupying, Bulma gathered the reports she had made out about her prototype creation and stored them neatly in the file cabinet that was located next to the exit door. Hanging up her lab coat next to the door, Bulma made her way out of the lab and back into the living quarters of Capsule Corporation.

Letting out another loud yawn, Bulma picked her way along the corridor on the main level of her home, heading towards the end of her house that contained the kitchen. She liked visiting the kitchen late at night because she got to feel what it was like to be isolated from everyone else. Sure, working in the lab after everyone had gone home was isolating and sometimes sort of creepy in a way, but she knew she could be alone down there and not be disturbed. Hanging out in the kitchen and hoping for solitude and quiet was a dicey proposition unless you came at such an inane time as 1:00 am in the morning. Then you were pretty much guaranteed that nobody would be using the state of the art cooking facility when you wanted some peace and quiet by yourself.

Making her way into the spacious kitchen, Bulma flipped on the lights and then opened the huge refrigerator and pulled out a capsule that contained her favorite flavors of ice cream. She was in the mood for something sweet, creamy and cold, and ice cream would hit the spot, even if it probably wasn't the best thing to eat before going to bed. Pulling the capsule out, Bulma released it and grabbed the flavor she was interested in at the moment, making sure to put the other flavors back in the refrigerator before they could melt. Bulma was in the process of grabbing a bowl from one of the cupboards, when she felt the hair on the back of her neck raise up, signaling that she wasn't alone in the kitchen. Turning around slowly, she almost screamed when she saw it was Vegeta leaning in the doorframe that led outside, watching her every movement with his very critical and discerning eye.

"Vegeta, how many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me? One of these days, I really am going to have an apoplectic attack and then you're just going to have to explain to my parents why I'm dead!" She hated that he always caught her off guard; especially since she had a feeling he did it on purpose for his own amusement. She sometimes thought it would be nice if she could return the favor, but knowing Vegeta, he most likely would hear her coming before she could get a chance to pounce on him, and if she were lucky enough to catch him unawares, he'd probably fry her with a retaliatory ki blast from his hands.

Sporting an amused smirk, Vegeta sauntered into the kitchen, keeping a watchful eye on the beauty standing before him. Not saying a word, he simply walked up to where she was standing holding an ice cream scoop out in front of her, brandishing it like a weapon. 

Bulma watched him nervously as he made his way around the kitchen island towards where she was standing. There was something not right with this picture, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe it was the way he was looking at her, like she was a piece of prime rib, or maybe it was the fact that she could feel herself being drawn into his gaze, hypnotized by the lights reflecting off of his onyx gaze. All she knew was that she had a feeling running away wasn't going to help and that for whatever reason, Vegeta did not want to harm her. Trying to put her nervousness to the backburner, Bulma decided to distract Vegeta away from whatever purpose he had in mind by engaging him in a conversation. Ignoring her uneasiness, she turned back towards the counter, grabbing the bowl she had been in the process of taking out when Vegeta had interrupted her solitary reverie.

"Well fine, don't say anything. Just keep acting like the jerk I know you are!" She was about to open up the pint of ice cream she had just gotten out of the freezer when she felt Vegeta's hot breath on the back of her neck and his body molding itself to her backside. Caught unawares, she dropped the pint she was holding, feeling it slip through her grasp and hearing it hit the ground with an explosive splat. Feeling Vegeta's arm go around her waist, she took in sharp exhalation of breath as she felt his teeth nip the tip of her earlobe.

"V-Vegeta, what are you doing? Let go of me right now!" Bulma said, feeling the blood rush into her face and other parts of her anatomy that shouldn't have been reacting in such a manner, but they were anyway.

"Why? So you can make another mess in the kitchen? I don't think so." He whispered into her ear. "I think you'll find what I have in store for you is much more diverting than eating that sugary stuff all alone in your room."

Trying to get a reign on her response for the man who was holding her body in a very intimate way, Bulma tried to push her way out of his grasp. She was relieved (and a little annoyed) when Vegeta let her go as quickly as she had found herself in his arms. Sidestepping around the mess she had made when she dropped her ice cream on the floor, she turned around nervously only to see that Vegeta had backed up and was now leaning against the island with his arms crossed watching her to see what she would do next.

Looking at the Saiyan Prince warily, Bulma reached over by the sink to grab some paper towels in order to clean up the mess that was made in part because of Vegeta manhandling her. Turning around, Bulma started to wipe up the mess only to have the feeling that she was being watched. In particular, her rear end was being watched, to be exact. Internally, she was fuming because she didn't like being leered at without permission. She wasn't a piece of eye candy, even if she did dress rather provocatively on occasion, and she certainly didn't want Prince Dickhead enjoying a free show while she was in the process of cleaning up a mess. But externally, she felt excited at the prospect that Vegeta was showing some interest in her, even though he had been in denial for the better part of who knew how long. Trying to clear her mind of the conflicting emotions that were running through her body, she decided the best thing to do would be to tell Vegeta exactly what she thought of his licentious behavior.

"Vegeta, you are acting like a pig! I thought you were better behaved than this. Never, in the entire time I have known you, have you purposefully felt me up and than stared at my ass while I was doing something. In fact, except for a few times when you've stepped into my personal space, you've all but said that you don't think I'm cute. So why the change of heart all of a sudden?" Glaring spitefully back at Vegeta, Bulma waited for his answer, but it wasn't the one she was expecting.

"You and I are tied together Bulma. We're both in denial and this other reality is the only way for us to experience what's going to happen eventually without feeling any guilt."

"Reality? Guilt? What are you talking about? You aren't making any sense Vegeta!" Bulma said exasperatedly. Throwing her hands up in the air, she bent over to retrieve the dirtied paper towels, looking sadly at the remains of what would have been a very delicious midnight snack. Throwing the sodden towels into the waste receptacle underneath the sink, Bulma turned around to head to her room, only to see that Vegeta had disappeared. It was like he had never even been there and only her imagination had conjured him up from thin air. Growling under her breath, Bulma headed out of the kitchen, making sure to turn the light off on the way out the door. Walking up the stairs, Bulma crept by Vegeta's room making sure not to disturb him. Sighing with relief, she opened the door to her own room and walked inside. Turning on the nightstand light, she made her way to the closet and pulled out a new silk nightgown she had bought the other day on a whim. It was pale blue with spaghetti straps, no back and it had a very low neckline. Bulma had no idea what had possessed her to buy it, seeing as she was single again and had been for a while, but she couldn't resist buying sexy things and this lingerie made her feel and look damn hot!

Admiring her new purchase, Bulma wandered over to her bathroom. "What I need is a hot bath to sit back and relax and forget thinking about why Vegeta was acting so weird in the kitchen. Ugh, he's such an asshole!" With that, she opened up the door and walked in to take a long and leisurely soak.

Bulma didn't know how long she had been in the bathtub, but she had a feeling that she had somehow fallen asleep. The bubbles had long since melted away and her body felt like it had turned into a giant raisin. Wrinkling her nose disgustedly, Bulma heaved herself out of the tepid water, grabbing a large towel to dry herself off with. Once that was accomplished, she brushed out her hair, which was slowly losing the curl she had put in last year and slipped on her new sexy nightgown. Letting out a sigh of pure pleasure when she felt the silk slither across her body, Bulma opened the door to go back into her room. That was when the feeling of being watched reasserted itself. Bulma looked around the darkened room, but couldn't see anything at all. All she could do was sense that something wasn't right. It was then that she realized her nightstand light was turned off. She clearly remembered turning it on and leaving it on before she had headed into her bathroom to take a bath. Slowly making her way into the room, she called out shakily to see if anyone was lurking in the shadows.

"Hello? Is anyone in here? I swear to Kami, if you _are_ in here, I'm going to scream so loud and so fast, you won't have a chance to get away if you intend to do bodily harm to me!" Bulma was really starting to freak out now. It was like she had a second sense and she could feel out that something or someone was in her room with her watching her, making sure to conceal themselves in the darkness. She was almost to the door when she felt more than saw something move past her. She was about to let out a terrified scream when she felt a warm hand cover her mouth. Trembling in fear, she tried to get in control of her wits when she suddenly realized the person who was holding her felt very familiar. Vegeta. Struggling, she tried to get away, only to have him let her go once more. She suddenly felt like they were playing cat and mouse and she was the unfortunate mouse.

Turning around nervously, she let out a shuddering breath and then squinted in the darkness to try and find where he was hiding. She felt rather than saw that he was standing a little ways behind her to the right near the door. Turning around to face him while her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was both afraid and angry. How dare he play games with her!

Glaring at him with her hands on her hips, she collected her feelings before she laid in on him.

"What the hell is your problem? First you grope me in the kitchen and stare at my ass while I'm cleaning up a mess you helped create, and then you sneak into my room while I'm taking a bath and then scare the living daylights out of me because you turned the light out and snuck up on me when I couldn't see you. Sane people do not sneak into other people's bedrooms Vegeta! So get out of my room this instant!" By the time she was done, Bulma was full out shrieking as loud as she could. She was so angry, all she wanted to do was throw something at the prick standing near her door. It didn't even occur to her that she should be at the least a little bit leery of what Vegeta's intentions were. She just wanted him to leave so she could get a goodnight's rest. Unfortunately, Vegeta's plans didn't include him leaving her room.

"I'm not leaving Bulma. I came here for a very specific reason and you are going to oblige me. You aren't going to fight me, you aren't going to scream and you aren't going to act like an annoying crybaby. What you will do is take what I'm about to give you with all the pride and dignity you can muster. And when we are done, you will finally understand what I mean when I say that you don't play with fire unless you have the understanding that you will eventually get burned, regardless if that was the intention in the beginning or not." With that, Vegeta stepped closer to the woman who was slowly backing away from him towards her bed. She noticed how that strange light was back in his eyes and no matter how she tried to look away from his penetrating gaze, she couldn't get away. She felt trapped and immobilized, but at the same time, she felt internally that this was what she wanted and had wanted for some time, whatever _this_ was.

Watching Bulma suddenly stop, Vegeta gave out a smile that was anything but warm. It was feral, wild and possessive, as though by her act of submission, she was suddenly his to do with as he pleased. In that moment, Bulma knew that something was going to happen and she had just given the okay, whether she realized it or not. It was then that she suddenly realized Vegeta had moved in and was now standing right in front of her. Taking his hand, he traced her lip where he had bitten her and Bulma let out a shivery breath full of longing and pent up desire that hadn't been properly fulfilled. That was when the realization dawned on her. He was here to finish what they had started, nothing more. And she being the idiot that she was had just given him the okay. The strange thing was, she didn't want him to stop. She wanted him and he wanted her and there was no point to fighting it anymore. Looking at him, she instinctively bent her head to the side, exposing her neck. Looking at him, she said the five little words that would alter her life forever.

"I surrender to you Vegeta."

_And then she woke up._

Bulma sat up in bed as fast as her upper torso would allow her too. Gasping for breath, she tried to get her breathing and rapid heartbeat under control. Looking at the clock next to her bed, she was disgusted to see that it was only four in the morning, way to early for her to be awake. But she didn't think she could go back to sleep after that dream. Looking around her darkened room, she breathed out a sigh of relief when she realized everything seemed to be normal. Muffin was still curled up at the foot of her bed and the night light she had installed a month ago was giving off its dim yet comforting light. Trying to tell herself she was being paranoid, Bulma relaxed against her pillows, staring at the ceiling above her.

Things had started to go downhill for Bulma ever since the stupid night of her blind date when somehow, she and Vegeta had ended up making out in the hallway and she had almost ended up doing the deed with him. She was totally frustrated with herself, but she also felt like she was slowly losing a battle she had no understanding of. All she wanted was to feel normal again. Yeah, her life had never been so called 'normal.' The friends she hung out with and the adventures she had been on were far from ordinary. But that wasn't what was bothering her. It wasn't her life that was wrong. She still worked with her father building, designing and refining technology for Capsule Corporation. It was what was going on inside of her head that wasn't normal, and these dreams seemed to be a manifestation of what she was feeling. And it just didn't make sense!

The dream she had just awoken from had been by far the most realistic and the most disturbing of the ones she had been having almost every day for the past two months since Vegeta had disappeared. But even if it _was_ the most realistic, all of her dreams that she could remember all centered on her and Vegeta, with him somewhere along the line trying to bite her. And every time she woke up from one, she always had this creepy feeling that Vegeta was in her room with her, seeing the same thing she had just seen in her dreams. However, that was impossible. The first dream she had had happened probably a couple nights after their fiasco. She had woken up with a start and then had immediately checked her rooms and the vicinity thereabouts looking for Vegeta's presence. But he was nowhere to be found, and he hadn't made an appearance since the night of their kiss, although Bulma knew he had been back at least a couple of times to pick up clean clothing and armor. It was getting to the point where she didn't want to fall asleep anymore because she knew, inevitably, she would have another bizarre, haunting and all too erotic dream about her and Vegeta and what would happen if he could dig his fangs into her one more time. She felt like she was slowly loosing her mind, that she had some sort of mental illness. And the dreams were just the first symptom that something wasn't right with her head in relation to Vegeta.

Besides having strange dreams about her and Vegeta, the sense that something foreign was in her head hadn't gone away. If fact, it almost felt like it was getting stronger as the months passed by, or maybe it was because she was getting used to the feeling that she was sharing her emotions with someone else. All she knew was that besides what she was feeling at the moment, there was something else in her head that mirrored or more like paralleled what she was feeling. It had taken her the better part of a month to figure out what the strange sensation in the back of her mind was, but she was convinced that it was a set of emotions currently inhabiting the mind of someone else and she was somehow tapped into those feelings. And the longer it went, the more convinced she was that the feelings she was registering that weren't her own belonged to none other than Vegeta, who was hiding out in the wilderness somewhere. She had tried to convince herself that there was no way she could be feeling what Vegeta was feeling, that he had been making up the whole "I tasted your blood so now I can feel what you're feeling" thing. But the longer he stayed away, the stronger the connection between the two of them seemed to be growing. Sometimes, his feelings would be so strong in the back of her head that Bulma would unconsciously start to exhibit some of Vegeta's less enduring personality traits, like being overly snide, hurtful and cruel. And she wondered if this was what it was like to be connected to Vegeta on an emotional level, how must he be reacting to her feelings? It was enough to make Bulma want to shudder.

And on top of everything else, she could no longer deny her attraction for the last man on earth who she had ever thought about having any sort of relationship with. But as the months passed by since that fateful night, the more she tried to search out for suitable boyfriends, the more frustrated she got with the process. At first, she felt guilty, like she shouldn't be going out with anyone since Vegeta had supposedly staked his claim on her (although at the time, she was convinced he had been making up all the stuff about bonding. Who knew that he was possibly telling the truth?). Pushing that to the back of her head, she had made a conscious effort to go out to clubs to meet new boyfriends. And she had met some really hot guys. They were all tall and handsome, plus they had manners, which was something Vegeta lacked completely. But for some reason, whenever they would try to kiss her or ask her to come over to their apartments, she just couldn't do it, even if that's what she really wanted. And it just seemed to get worse from there. The last guy she had made out with, she had accidentally called him Vegeta in a moment of passion. And so Bulma not only found herself dreaming about Vegeta, she was thinking about him all the time as well, which made it impossible to try to forge a relationship with other men. So she was stuck in a single's rut that had nothing to do with the fact that she didn't want a boyfriend and everything to do with the jerk who had almost slept with her and then jumped ship.

Bulma reclined back in her pillows and made sure not to disturb Muffin from his sleep. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she looked up at the ceiling trying to figure out what was going on with her head. She didn't want to believe Vegeta. But unless she really did want to admit that she might be mentally unbalanced, the only other possible alternative was to believe that Vegeta had been telling her the truth about claiming a mate, although he had neglected to fill her in on the details about what was happening to her and he obviously didn't seem to care enough to finish what he had started, leaving her in agony for the last two months. It felt like she was being torn in half. Half of her was still in denial and the other half wanted Vegeta to show up, finish what he had started without her knowing what was going on, so that she could get back to her normal life.

Bulma's life had been in a downward slump ever since she had dumped Yamcha. Trying to fall asleep again, she said a little prayer that hopefully someday soon, her life would start to improve.

_Later that day…_

Goku found his mind wandering during the sparring match he was currently having with Piccolo. Gohan had had to leave an hour earlier to make up 'special lesson time' with Chi-Chi. Instead of arguing with his wife over the importance of Gohan's training, Goku had gone along with Chi-Chi's idea, figuring it would be simpler and less painful for him if he agreed. Involuntarily, he shuddered at the thought of having Chi-Chi chase him around their small home with the giant frying pan she carried around as her secret arsenal against disobedient husbands and sons. He was in the middle of planting a well aimed kick to Piccolo's head when he suddenly stopped. Without pausing, he called a halt to their fight and landed on the rocky terrain below where they were training.

Looking at his partner, Piccolo tried to assess what was wrong with Goku. It was unlike him to completely stop a match just when it was starting to get good. On top of that, the wild haired Saiyan was looking in a westerly direction with a puzzled look on his face. Suddenly thinking that maybe Trunks had miscalculated and Goku was sensing out the energy levels of the two artificial life forms that were supposed to show up in less then two years, Piccolo powered down and landed beside his counterpart.

Looking at the puzzled Saiyan, Piccolo voiced his concerns. "What's going on Goku? Do you sense the Androids, or is there some other reason why you suddenly stopped fighting me?"

Turning around, Goku gave Piccolo his trademark grin, scratching his head foolishly in the process.

"Ah, no Piccolo. I don't sense any other new or strange power levels. Besides, if I could sense them, you would be able to do so as well. No, it's not an extra power level that's bothering me; it's the lack of one."

Piccolo looked at Goku uneasily, trying to figure out what the Saiyan was talking about. Feeling out for himself, he could sense all of the Z-fighters and everyone seemed to be in tip top condition, if not better. They were all currently training to better prepare themselves for when the inevitable occurred and the Earth would once again be in danger from a sinister force.

"I think I must have hit you too hard in the head earlier because I don't sense a lack of a power level anywhere." Growling impatiently, he crossed his arms and frowned at his lackadaisical training partner. "Goku, what you're saying doesn't make any sense." He was already starting to lose patience, and the more they stood around gawking, the less time they would have to spend on perfecting their training techniques. They'd already wasted half of the morning because both Goku and Gohan had been required to do chores around the house that Chi-Chi refused to let slide until they were done training. And now, just when he and Goku had started to really warm up, the idiot had pulled them to a complete stand still. He was about to attempt to throttle Goku, when the smaller man turned around and pointed in the westerly direction he was staring at.

"No Piccolo. Try to sense for a significant power level to the west and you'll see what I mean."

Muttering under his breath, Piccolo turned in the direction Goku had pointed out, closed his eyes and concentrated on locking onto a strong power level. Letting out a true growl of frustration, he snapped his eyes open and let Goku know exactly what he thought about his counterpart's ridiculous obsession.

"Goku, you are being completely ridiculous! There _is_ no strong power level to the west, so you're just wasting my time! If you're going to act like this, I'll just go split into two and train with myself!" Piccolo was completely exasperated. At least when he trained with Gohan, he didn't have to worry about the kid suddenly shifting gears into what ever mode suited his fancy at the time. Goku, although an excellent and challenging fighter, had the habit of letting whatever came to mind change the track of their sparring. And Piccolo did not like constant interruptions during his training routine. He was about to leave in a huff when he noticed Goku frowning in concentration.

"No Piccolo, I'm not being ridiculous. Think a little. Who do we know that has a strong power level and is currently residing to the west of us?"

That was when it dawned on Piccolo that Goku was talking about the most recent and tenuous addition to the Z-Squad: Vegeta. Closing his eyes again, the tall Namek sensed out for the now familiar ki signature of his former and still possible enemy. This time, he realized what Goku was feeling.

"Vegeta's power level is gone. I can't feel him anywhere. Unless he's masking it somehow, then something is up." Piccolo replied nervously. It wasn't that he really cared one way or the other about Vegeta, seeing as he was still pretty much a wild card and prone to doing whatever he wanted to. However, if what Trunks had said was true, they needed all the strong fighters they could get their hands on so for the time being, Vegeta was a necessary evil.

"That's exactly it Piccolo. Actually, I think I can sense him, but it doesn't make much sense either because he isn't anywhere near where Capsule Corp. is. It's been bothering me for a while, but it wasn't until just now that I figured out what I've been sensing for the last couple of months." Turning around so he was completely facing Piccolo, Goku rubbed his hands back and forth together in an uneasy motion.

Looking back at Goku, Piccolo wondered what exactly it was that Goku had been sensing in conjunction with his new nemesis. He knew that there was some sort of affinity between both Goku and Vegeta since they were both aliens of the same species, whether or not they would ever admit to such a thing or not, so he was curious as to how Goku perceived that something wasn't quite right. Looking at his partner with annoyance, Piccolo voiced his question. "So are you going to explain what's been bothering you or are we just going to sit here and stare at each other like idiots? Like I said, I have much better things I could thing of doing besides examining your ugly profile."

Grinning sheepishly, Goku got his thoughts back on track. "Alright. We both know that Dr. Briefs built Vegeta a Gravity Room similar to the one I used on my way to Namek. _And_ we both know that Vegeta has been training in that thing for the better part of a year trying to make it to Super Saiyan, so all of us have become pretty much immune to the huge amounts of power that Vegeta generates when he's training. It's pretty much a constant thing going on at certain times of the day. Well, in the last couple of months, I haven't felt any high power output coming from West City. I should have jumped on it when I first noticed it, but even though it was in plain sight, I didn't catch it. And you made the same mistake as I did my friend."

"Alright, that's fine Goku. But there has to be another reason why you and I both missed the fact that Vegeta seems to have disappeared from the face of this planet."

"Yeah, you're right Piccolo and I have a solution for that too. I _have_ felt Vegeta training in the last couple of months, but I didn't really pay any attention to it. But now that I think about it, Vegeta has been training somewhere to the north of West City. I can't be sure, but I think that's were he went. At any rate, what's been bothering me is the fact that his power level seems to have been dwindling. That's why it didn't register to me until just now that I can hardly sense Vegeta out at all. It doesn't make sense why he would leave Capsule Corporation to head out to the mountains and why his power level has fallen off past my radar. I think this is really serious, so I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm going to call off training for the rest of the day until I get some answers."

Piccolo just looked sourly at his training partner, feeling his whole day had been an utter and complete waste of time. Grunting irritably, he shook his head in agreement before he commented on Goku's change of plans. "Fine Goku. Do what you think you need to do. Just remember, it'll be double duty tomorrow, and don't think I'll go easy on you because you skipped out today."

"Hey, sure thing Piccolo. You're the greatest!" Smiling, Goku turned around and faced west. Putting his pointer finger to his forehead, Goku closed his eyes in concentration feeling out for Capsule Corporation. Once he got a lock on the position, he waved at Piccolo over his shoulder and promptly disappeared.

_A few seconds later at Capsule Corporation…_

Mrs. Briefs was humming a ridiculous and off key tune as she pulled a tray of hot chocolate chip cookies out from the oven when Goku suddenly appeared on top of her kitchen table. Shocked from his sudden appearance, Mrs. Briefs promptly dropped the tray she was holding, letting it clatter to the floor with a loud bang. Now, if Mrs. Briefs had happened to possess the same ill temperament as her beloved daughter, this would have been cause for serious concern on Goku's part. But Mrs. Briefs recovered from her fright instantaneously, eager to have company even if they did just literally pop in from out of thin air. She was also a sucker for good looking, muscular hunks, and Goku fit into the category hands down. Simpering foolishly at the handsome young man standing before her on her table, Mrs. Briefs put a hand to her blushing cheek.

"Oh my Goku, you gave me such a fright! But that's alright. Why don't you get down from the table and make yourself more comfortable? I wouldn't want you to think that I'm a terrible hostess."

Blushing slightly for his misfortune to have ended up in such an embarrassing position, Goku jumped off the table he was currently standing on. Seeing that he was the one who had caused Mrs. Briefs to literally toss her cookies, Goku offered to help her pick them up, afraid that he might get in trouble with Bulma.

"Oh certainly Goku! But you're a guest, so if you don't want to help me clean up the mess, you can sit down and I'll bring you a giant plate of cookies and a heaping glass of milk. I know how you Saiyans operate!"

"Uh, that's okay Mrs. Briefs, really! I don't mind helping you out, but I wouldn't be averse to some cookies and milk. I'm starving!" With that statement, Goku's belly let out a very audible rumble that even Mrs. Briefs could hear and she was standing more than a few feet away from the hungry Saiyan.

Bending over, Goku hurriedly picked up the hot cookies before they could burn his finger tips. Throwing them in the garbage can Mrs. Briefs proffered him, he finished the job and then sat down at the table, waiting for the snack Mrs. Briefs had promised him. Looking around him as he shoveled handfuls of cookies into his mouth, he was envious that Vegeta had such a large kitchen at his disposal. Sighing when his plate was empty, Goku rubbed his belly and scratched his head, taking note of all the things he wanted Chi-Chi to do to their kitchen.

"Wow Mrs. Briefs, that sure was good! You're a great cook. So, how come you guys decided to remodel the kitchen?" After all, he was entitled to some curiosity.

"Oh, the kitchen? Dr. Briefs and I went on vacation a few months back and I forgot to stock the old refrigerator with food before I left. I guess Vegeta was really hungry and got upset when there was nothing to eat so he destroyed the refrigerator and half of the kitchen. I always say, boys will be boys and Vegeta is just so cute, I couldn't be upset with him for doing something like that. Besides, I like the remodeled kitchen much better than I did the old one and it gave me a chance to redecorate." With that, Mrs. Briefs motioned to the art she had decorating the walls and the nooks and crannies where her roosters used to be. Instead of ugly roosters, the walls now were graced with even uglier neon colored dolphins that Mrs. Briefs had become enamored with on her recent cruise in the tropics.

Not knowing whether to comment on Mrs. Briefs' decorating job or the fact that Vegeta seemed to have it made in the shade, Goku decided to cut to the chase about why he was there.

"Uh, that's great Mrs. Briefs. Do you know where Vegeta is? Is he around?"

"Vegeta?" Mrs. Briefs suddenly looked sad, like she had lost a beloved friend. "No. I haven't seen him around for a while." Perking up a bit, Mrs. Briefs decided to make a concession, thinking it would probably do her daughter some good to see one of her friends. She'd been down in the dumps ever since that night and Mrs. Briefs was starting to worry that there was seriously something wrong with her only child. "But how about I call Bulma up here? She'd love to visit with you." Before Goku could protest, Mrs. Briefs when over to the wall communicator and had Bulma paged to the kitchen.

"Now, you just sit right there and I'll go make sure my daughter shows up." With that, Mrs. Briefs left the puzzled Saiyan alone. He only had to wait a few minutes before Bulma walked into the kitchen. Or at least, he though it was Bulma, but he was shocked by her appearance. The Bulma he knew was vibrant, healthy and full of life. The Bulma he saw in front of him was everything but. She was thin, as though she had lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. Her eyes had a strange glow to them, and there were also dark circles weighing down on her cheeks. She looked exhausted and miserable. In short, she looked like death was warming up over her.

Smiling wanly, Bulma slipped into a chair at the table and sighed. It was nice to finally see Goku seeing as she couldn't even remember when it was the last time they had gotten together. Looking at the remains of what must have been a giant serving of cookies, Bulma smiled thinking that some things never changed.

"Hey Goku! What's up? What brings you all the way out to little ol' Capsule Corp?"

Goku smiled nervously back at the woman seated before him. His mind was still puzzling over how she had ended up in this sort of condition. In fact, internally, his mind was reeling. Everything felt wrong. Everything! Looking at Bulma, he voiced his opinion, not caring what she was going to do to him.

"Man Bulma, something is not right with you. You look terrible!"

"Oh, well thanks for that wonderful assessment, Mr. Congeniality!" Bulma shot back at Goku sarcastically. Honestly, like she didn't know she looked terrible? It was an outward expression of how crappy she felt internally, and she didn't know what she could do to change it. And it was all stupid Vegeta's fault!

Cringing at her tone of voice, Goku decided it would be best to get this conversation over with so he could leave in one piece.

"Look Bulma, I didn't come over to fight with you. I'm just really worried about you and Vegeta." Well, he hadn't been worried about Bulma, but seeing her like this was almost unreal to Goku.

"Oh, you're worried about me? A well thanks for your concern, but it's none of your damn business." She could feel herself tapping into the feelings of rage in the back of her mind and she had to physically restrain herself from lunging at Goku. It just seemed so impossible, like she was losing herself and her sanity, especially since she kept feeding into that other portion of her mind that wasn't hers. Putting her head in her hands, Bulma started to feel tears of frustration well up over her eyes and slide down her hands and arms to the table below. "I'm sorry Goku. I don't know what came over me. I'm not usually so moody, but lately I just haven't been myself. As for Vegeta, he isn't here. He left two months ago and no one has seen him since, although I do know he's been back a couple of times to pick up supplies. He's just a jerk, and I hate him!" Bulma said without any real conviction in her voice. It was more that she hated the situation she found herself in, with no solution to her predicament in sight. Feeling as though she was being watched, Bulma lifted her face and peered into the concerned gaze of Goku.

"I guess it's none of my business, but is everything okay between you and Vegeta? He didn't do anything to you did he?" If that was the case, Goku would go out right then and there and end Vegeta's miserable life, even if it meant that Trunks would never be born into this timeline. There was no excuse in Goku's mind for such behavior.

Wiping her eyes, Bulma shook her head no. Yeah, Vegeta had done _something_ to her, but she wasn't about to tell Goku about what had happened. It was too embarrassing to share, and knowing him, within a matter of minutes, the rest of the Z-Squad would be in on her private humiliation. The last thing she needed was for stupid Yamcha to show up and bitch her out and she had a feeling that's exactly what would happen, even if she had made out with Vegeta way after she broke up with the womanizer for good. Besides which, she knew what Goku was referring to and thank Kami, that had not happened between her and Vegeta.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Goku decided to move on. "Do you know where he is Bulma? I can't sense his power level, which either means he left the planet or he's in serious trouble."

Scrunching her eyes up in concern, Bulma looked worriedly at Goku. If he couldn't sense Vegeta…she didn't want to think of what that would mean. Closing her eyes, she instinctively felt out the ball of emotions in the back of her head, something she had never done before. She felt them quiver and recoil away from her touch as though they did not want to be violated. Smirking inwardly, she took it to mean Vegeta was still alive and kicking, although she didn't want to think about how she knew that to be true. Altogether, it was a completely bizarre situation and Bulma did not like it one bit.

"No, he hasn't left Earth and he's still alive. I think he's somewhere directly north of here, but don't ask me how I know that because I can't explain it."

"Really, you're positive Bulma?"

Becoming annoyed with Goku because he didn't have faith in her statement, Bulma growled at him, something Goku had never seen her do in all the time he had known her. Swallowing nervously, he pushed his chair back a bit, afraid that Bulma was going to go off the deep end and he was the one who was about to witness it.

Bulma saw Goku move and had to quell down the feeling that she'd shone him up. Sighing again, she pushed back the aggressive feelings that were becoming more and more a part of her sub-conscious.

"Sorry about that Goku. Like I said, I haven't been myself lately. But as for Vegeta, I'm positive he's still alive. He's hiding out in the wilderness doing lord knows what. And I'm sure if you travel north of here, you'll find his good for nothing, jackass body taking up space." With that statement, Bulma stood up from the table and pushed in her chair. "Look Goku, I don't mean to cut this short, but I'm working on a really important project that I have to get back to. It was really nice seeing you, though." Coming around the table to where Goku was standing up, Bulma gave him a big hug and was happy when he returned it tenfold. Why couldn't she have ended up with a guy like Goku? Sure, he wasn't the brightest fish in the sea and he wasn't always a reliable husband, but he cared about people and he made an effort to make sure that all of his friends were being taken care of, no matter what their circumstances were. Life just wasn't fair sometimes!

Backing up a bit from Bulma, Goku looked into her strange, feverish eyes. There was something really wrong with her, but he didn't know what he could do to help her out. And then there was Vegeta. If she said he was alive then Goku believed her. But for some reason, Goku had a feeling that whatever was eating away at Bulma was somehow tied to Vegeta, and that Vegeta might be in a similar state when he found him. None of this was good in Goku's opinion because if they both had some sort of disease, then Trunks wouldn't be born and everything would go wrong. He had to find Vegeta, he just had to! Steeling himself for what he knew he had to do, Goku gave Bulma a warm smile full of concern and support.

"Hey Bulma, try to take care of yourself. Take it for what its worth, but maybe instead of going back to the lab, you should try and take a nap. You look like you need a good rest."

Bulma involuntarily shuddered at the thought of taking a nap. It wasn't worth the miniscule amount of sleep she might get. But he was right: she was exhausted. It had been over a month since she had had decent rest and she didn't know how she was making it through day after day being able to function in a somewhat normal fashion. Sooner or later though, her lack of sleep was going to catch up with her and she really did not want to know what would happen when she finally let all of her guards down.

"It's okay Goku, I'll be fine." Bulma said all too cheerily. Then looking seriously at Goku, she asked him a question. "Goku, are you going to go and search for Vegeta to find out if he's okay?"

"Yeah, that's my plan. In fact, that's what I'm going to do when I leave here."

Sighing with relief that she would find out if the idiot was alright, she relaxed a little bit. The truth was, even though she still wanted to chew him out for being a royal pain in the ass, Bulma was worried about him, especially since he had been gone for so long without even a word of his whereabouts. Knowing he was fine would help to reduce some of the stress she was feeling.

"Hey Goku, when you find him, could you…Could you tell him to stop being so stubborn and come home?" Bulma whispered softly.

Seeing the look of sadness on Bulma's face, Goku felt torn. He wanted to go figure out what was up with Vegeta, but Bulma looked so miserable. Shaking his head, he made conscientious decision to go and find Vegeta and get some answers to what was going on between the two of them.

"Sure thing Bulma. In fact, if he refuses, I'll drag his butt all the way back here, even if kicks and screams and threatens to kill me! Well, I gotta go if I want to find him before supper time. I don't want to have to deal with Chi-Chi being mad at me because I'm late." Putting his pointer finger to his forehead, Goku concentrated on a position about two hundred kilometers north of West City. From there, he would have a better chance of picking out Vegeta's ki signature. Locking in on the position, Goku waved goofily at Bulma with his free hand and disappeared.

Bulma stared at the spot where Goku had just been standing. Shaking herself awake, she whispered something to herself that she would never have told Goku or even Vegeta a few months ago.

"Come back home Vegeta. I don't know why, but I miss you."

_Wow, that was another long one! Well, Bulma seems to be in pretty bad shape, so how has our Saiyan Prince faired in the last few months? What will Goku discover if he finds the ever elusive Vegeta? Find out in the next chapter! As always, please read and review._

_P.S. And if you want to be the really great readers I know you are, please check out the other story I started and tell me what you think (read and review, please!). It's about Vegeta and Goku and it is called "**And The Secret Ingredient Is**" Not that I'm shamefully self-advertising or anything! _


	15. Chapter 15

_I've been working too hard on this story and not hard enough on my homework. Oh well. Here is the next chapter. I hope you like it and thanks again to everyone who has reviewed my story. Please, keep them coming! I've turned into a review junky._

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, but one can only wish!_

_Chapter 15_

It was about mid-afternoon in the mountains north of West City and everything was quiet for the most part. Many of the dinosaurs and other animals that inhabited the area were undercover sleeping through the heat of the day, only to wake up later in the early evening to begin their ever-elusive hunt for nourishment. Yet at this particular moment, all was not quiet in a certain sector of the mountain range.

Goku felt his body shift from the kitchen in Capsule Corp. to the location he had honed in on when he had left Bulma. Unfortunately for Goku, the position he had picked high in the mountains was not conducive for a flawless landing. Suddenly finding himself standing hundreds of feet above the ground in thin air a few feet away from a sheer rocky outcrop, Goku let out a terrified yell as he felt the affects of gravity take a hold of his body. Wheeling his arms and legs in the air, he lunged for the cliff face that was tantalizingly close to where he was hanging in mid-air. Grabbing a hold of the sheer slab, he felt his fingers starting to slip as he tried desperately to scramble up the rock wall. However, all this did was loosen the rock he was already gripping. In a matter of seconds, the Saiyan found himself tumbling down the side of the cliff, dislodging dirt, rocks, plants and debris during his graceless descent to the bottom. Screaming the whole way down the side of the cliff, Goku found himself laid out flat on his back, landing with a resounding thud.

Moaning slightly, he shifted a small amount on his back, trying to slowly move away from the rock that was currently digging into his lumbar vertebrae. "Ugh, I've got to work on where I end up. I wish when I'd learned this on Yardrat I had paid more attention on how to land exactly where you want to without falling into a hole." Moving his head slightly to make sure his neck wasn't broken, Goku looked up the side of the cliff, surprised he wasn't in worse shape. The cliff he had just fallen off of was enormous, hundreds of feet up in the air. Deciding he needed to get moving if he wanted to find Vegeta before suppertime, Goku began to concentrate on shifting his protesting body.

Groaning in pain and slowly making sure he hadn't broken anything, Goku gradually sat up and surveyed his surroundings. The position he had picked happened to be in the high altitude of the mountains. There was very little plant or animal life around the vicinity, so Goku had a feeling that he wouldn't be finding Vegeta around where he had chosen to land. Gathering up his energy, Goku stood up shakily, grabbing a hold of a nearby bush to push his body upright. "Ah," Goku groaned out slowly as he rubbed his sore back. "I'm going to be bruised from head to toe tomorrow morning and I definitely don't think Piccolo will go easy on me because of a sore body and a few bruises." Goku muttered to himself as he brushed the dirt off of his now torn and soiled clothing. Frowning, he realized that Chi-Chi was going to be angry with him yet again for ruining his gi right after she had spent hours repairing it. Well, Goku supposed, that was life. It came with lemons along with the cherries and there was no point in bemoaning the little injustices life threw at you.

Letting out a deep sigh, Goku gathered his thoughts and then tried to decide the best way to go about finding his missing compatriot. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on locating Vegeta's ki signature, hoping that because he was somewhat closer to the missing Saiyan, he would have an easier time locking in on it. The only difficulty was that the mountain range Vegeta had chosen to hide out in was enormous. He could be anywhere and because he was either hiding his true energy level or he really was on the verge of dying, Goku knew he was going to have a difficult time distinguishing it from the ki signatures of some of the other creatures that also had homes in the mountains. But, for whatever reason, Kami decided to favor Goku that day. In a manner of minutes, Goku located something that felt very similar to Vegeta's ki energy signature, but it was strange. He couldn't put his finger on what exactly was wrong with it besides the fact that it was unusually low, but after a few more seconds of sensing the energy signature, Goku was sure it had to be Vegeta's. Frowning at the spot he had located, Goku guessed that Vegeta couldn't be more than ten kilometers away. Deciding it was now or never to retrieve his stubborn former enemy, Goku leapt into the air, using his ki to fly low over the cliffs and ravines that filled the lower valleys of the mountains. He could sense that something definitely wasn't right with Vegeta, and the closer he got to his quarry, the greater the feeling of uneasiness grew in the pit of Goku's stomach. Something was definitely wrong. According to Goku's calculations from Vegeta's previous power output, he had been very close to reaching Super Saiyan. But now, Vegeta's power level was dangerously low, much lower than Goku's had been when he first fought his brother Raditz. Shaking off his uneasiness about the situation, Goku landed near to where he sensed Vegeta was hiding, making sure to power down so as not to give his location away to his evasive quarry.

Picking his way slowly through the rocks and gravel, Goku shielded his eyes from the bright light of the afternoon sun with one of his hands as he glanced to and fro, trying to pick out Vegeta. He suddenly felt like he was searching for a needle in a haystack and that if Vegeta didn't want to be discovered, Goku could easily spend the whole day looking for him and not come up with anything. And after seeing the shape Bulma was in and sensing that there was something really wrong with Vegeta, going home empty handed was not an option for Goku. Concentrating, he tried to pick up again on Vegeta's ki signature, suddenly surprised to realize that it was very close to where he was currently standing.

Slowly craning his head upward, Goku decided to call out softly for Vegeta.

"Yoo-hoo, Vegeta!" Goku whispered out as though he was trying to attract a shy kitten. "I know you're hiding out here. Come out, come out wherever you are!" Realizing that whispering was getting him nowhere, Goku opted for yelling. He knew how sensitive Saiyan hearing was, so he decided that letting out an ear splitting holler might get Vegeta's attention. Taking a deep breath, Goku bellowed as loud as he could.

"**_HEY VEGETA!"_** Goku yelled. Deciding to add in a few taunts for added measure, Goku smiled to himself before he continued, thinking this was kind of fun, sort of like playing hide and go seek. Cupping his mouth with his hands, Goku continued in his efforts to attract the ire and attention of the Saiyan Prince. **_"VEGETA, STOP ACTING LIKE A COWARD AND COME OUT IN THE OPEN! YOU'RE ACTING LIKE GOHAN AFTER HE'S DONE SOMETHING NAUGHTY AND DOESN'T WANT TO GET A SPANKING! I THOUGHT YOU WERE ONE OF THE TOUGHEST FIGHTERS IN THE UNIVERSE BUT YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A WEAKLING!"_** Goku yelled out before he stopped to heave in a few much needed breaths. 'Huh, if nothing else, being called a weakling should get him to come out in the open. He he, I'm pretty good at taunting if I do say so myself.' Goku thought to himself as he took a breather from screaming. His throat was starting to get scratchy from all of his efforts and the cliffs where still reverberating from the sound waves he had forced out of his body.

Sitting down on a rock, Goku scratched himself and waited to see if his efforts would pay off. Waiting for what seemed like forever, Goku decided he was going to have to start yelling again. He was about to stand up when he suddenly had the feeling he was being watched carefully by something hiding somewhere behind him. Turning his head slowly around, he assessed the cliffs behind him, trying to find whatever it was that was making him feel prickly all over. Not being able to scry out whatever was making his sixth sense go berserk, Goku decided he was being overly sensitive. Taking a slow and calming deep breath, he tried to relax his body. That was when his internal warning alarm went off, signaling that someone was standing right behind him. Scrambling up from where he was sitting, Goku turned around quickly and put himself into a defensive position. Looking around wildly, he tried to find whomever it was that was playing tricks on him, forgetting to sense out for Vegeta's ki. That was when he saw an unmistakable shadowy form hugging the rocks directly in front of where he was standing.

"So, you think I'm a weakling, do you Kakarot? You should know that you've just signed your death warrant with that little comment, idiot." With that, Vegeta stepped out of the shadows where he had been watching Kakarot for the past twenty or so minutes, ever since he had landed in the valley where he was currently hiding out. He smiled sinisterly when Goku backed up nervously, not expecting Vegeta to pop out of the shadows only a few feet behind where he had been sitting the whole time.

"H-hey Vegeta. I was just trying to get your attention. I don't really think you're a weakling." Goku replied nervously, not sure what to expect from Vegeta. It was at that moment when Vegeta decided to move forward into the light that Goku got his first real look at the condition the Saiyan Prince was in. "Oh Kami Vegeta, you look like hell!" And he wasn't kidding. Bulma had looked really bad in Goku's estimation, but Vegeta had managed to take bad to a whole new level. He was filthy, dirt streaking across his face and hands. His hair was a matted mess, as though he hadn't taken the time to wash or comb it in a very long time. And his cloths were nothing more than rags, torn and full of an innumerable amount of holes. He also had the same gaunt and famished look to him that Bulma had had, but seeing it on the former very healthy and hearty Saiyan was terrifying to Goku. Vegeta's cheeks had sunk in, accentuating his high cheekbones, giving him a haunting visage. His rags where hanging on his slim frame as though they were about to fall off at any minute. He looked like a ghost, a pale fraction of what Vegeta had looked like a few months past when Goku had sparred with him. Making up his mind, Goku stepped towards Vegeta, deciding to carry out his promise to Bulma. If Vegeta stayed out here any longer, he had a feeling the arrogant Prince was going to die, and that was not a good thing. It was then that the full effects of Vegeta's lack of personal care blasted Goku in the face. Gagging, Goku covered his mouth and nose, backing away from Vegeta as quickly as he could.

"Ugh, Vegeta!" Goku said through his plugged nose. "What have you been doing out here, wallowing in manure? You smell worse than piece of rancid meat that's been sitting out in the sun too long."

Vegeta frowned at his nemesis. What right did he have to make comments about his appearance or his odor? "If you don't like what you see or smell, you can always leave Kakarot. In fact, I think that's exactly what you should do. Get lost before I fry your sorry ass."

"Forget it Vegeta! You aren't healthy, even I can see that! You can't stay out here in your condition Vegeta! Besides, I made a promise to Bulma that I'd bring you back." At the sound of Bulma's name, Vegeta's attention seemed to perk up a bit.

"Bulma? What do I care about some stupid promise you made to that slut? Just get lost! I came out here to get away from bothersome idiots. Now leave!" Vegeta shouted at the moron who had the nerve to interrupt his solitude.

"No way Vegeta! I already told you I'm not leaving. Come on, stop being so stubborn. You can't stay out here in your current condition. Besides, I don't want to get in trouble with Bulma." That was the truth. He had known Bulma for a long time, and it was easier in the long run to stay on her good side. Stepping back slightly, he watched as Vegeta stepped in a little closer, trying to ignore the horrible stench that was wafting off of his body.

Vegeta growled low in his throat. "Bulma, Bulma, _Bulma_! You keep mentioning that infernal female's name! Why are you suddenly so interested in her? Are you sniffing after her? Is your own mate not good enough for you?" Vegeta sneered at Goku, watching as the larger Saiyan continued to retreat nervously away from him. He could feel the madness starting to overtake him. He'd been fighting it steadily for the last month but he was losing the battle against his body and he knew it. And Kakarot standing in front of him causally mentioning the name of the woman he was half bonded too was the straw that broke the camel's back. In the back of his mind, he knew that Kakarot was innocent of doing anything with Bulma, but his body was interpreting the actions and comments of the Saiyan standing before him as though he were a rival. He could feel his fangs extending slightly inside of his mouth and suddenly he felt a sudden upsurge in power radiating throughout his body.

Goku suddenly knew something was not right. Vegeta's eyes had started to glow and now they were almost red in color, sort of like when he had started the transformation into an Oozaru when he had first come to Earth. Deciding he'd better answer Vegeta's questions quickly before trouble started to brew between the two of them, Goku spoke up hastily. "No, Chi-Chi and I are fine. Look Vegeta, I don't know what's up between you and Bulma, but believe you me, I wouldn't want to have some sort of thing with her. She's the second most terrifying person I know!" The first being Chi-Chi. But Vegeta wasn't listening to what Goku was saying. In his mind, Goku was a rival that had to be eliminated. In what seemed like a split second, Vegeta let out a terrifying cross between a howl and roar and launched himself at Goku.

Unprepared for the attack, Goku fell backwards over a rock, landing on his back. He quickly rolled out of the way as Vegeta sailed through the air, almost landing on him. Aiming a kick for Vegeta's unmentionables, he was surprised when the smaller Saiyan dodged the blow. Quickly rolling to his feet, he scanned the area, zeroing in on where Vegeta was crouched low to the ground in a defensive position.

"Come on Vegeta, this is stupid! You're acting really weird. I don't want to have to fight you in your condition cause I could hurt you."

Vegeta just sneered sinisterly at Goku. "Oh, poor Saiyan doesn't want to fight me? Well, too bad Kakarot. You're too weak for your own good. Besides which, there is no backing out of this fight. You interfered with what is mine by rights, and now you must pay the price!" With that said, Vegeta fazed in front of Goku and aimed a punch at his pretty boy face.

Goku, of course, was in tip top condition and Vegeta was fighting like a cornered wild animal, letting whatever rage was inside of him control his fighting instincts. If it weren't for the fact that Vegeta was very weak from his months of solitude and starvation, Goku would have been really worried, seeing as wild animals are always the most dangerous and unpredictable fighters when they are backed into a corner. He easily evaded Vegeta's punches and kicks, backing away, trying to either tire him out or get him to see reason.

"Look Vegeta," Goku said as he leapt in the air to avoid having his torso connect with Vegeta's leg, "I'm not after anything of yours. I just want to help you out!"

Growling in frustration, Vegeta fazed in behind Goku, catching him unawares, slamming his fist into his back with a satisfying crunch. He watched as Goku carelessly made an indent in the rocky terrain below. Not wasting any time, Vegeta leapt on top of Goku's body before he could get up, pinning him to the ground. Staring at Goku in the eye, he smiled wickedly at his foe, showing off his fangs to full effect. Startled, Goku heaved upward and kicked Vegeta off of his body. Backing away and making sure not to make another careless mistake, Goku put his guard up. He looked at Vegeta nervously. Suddenly, a terrible thought surfaced in his mind.

"Vegeta, your tail hasn't grown back, has it?" If it had, that would be bad, even though Goku was positive he could handle Vegeta in his Super Saiyan form.

"My tail? Of course not baka! Does it look like it has?"

"Well, you have fangs and your eyes are glowing red. I just though you were maybe transforming."

"Why would I be transforming? It's the middle of the day, idiot. Now stop toying around with me and fight!" With that, Vegeta lunged at Goku again, frustrated when Goku fazed out of sight. Looking up, he saw him standing on the top of the cliff they had been fighting underneath. Growling, he launched himself in the air, floating a few feet away from where Goku was standing.

Meanwhile, Goku was trying to rack his brain about what was going on with Vegeta. There was something familiar about this whole situation. It was suddenly when Vegeta managed to punch him in the head that it came back to Goku. He could barely remember back to a time when something similar had happened between himself and Chi-Chi, shortly after they were married. He couldn't really remember the details, thinking the whole thing must have been a bad dream. All he remembered was waking up next to her thinking he had bitten her on the neck. To this day, he still wasn't sure if it had really happened or not, but looking at Vegeta, he suddenly wondered if Bulma's condition and Vegeta's condition had to do with something similar to the dream he had had long ago. Of course, at the time, Goku hadn't know he was an alien, so he'd just shoved the weird thoughts and feelings he was having for Chi-Chi to the back of his mind. Besides that, it wasn't like he had really fought any sort of attraction to Chi-Chi from the beginning. He had fallen into the whole marriage situation without really knowing what it was about. Still daydreaming, he felt a kick from Vegeta connect with his head. Reeling from the blow, Goku stumbled backwards. Deciding to test his hypothesis that Vegeta's condition stemmed from his attraction to Bulma, Goku decided to play a little game with Vegeta, not knowing the consequences his actions where going to have.

Dodging a blow, Goku opened his mouth. "Hey Vegeta, I guess I do have to say that I think Bulma's pretty cute, if you like bossy, scary girls." He watched as Vegeta's pupils dilated in rage, pushing the already taxed Saiyan to a new level of desperation.

Screaming in fury, Vegeta powered a ki blast at Goku's head, which he easily deflected.

"Yeah, and I do have to say that she looks good in those outfits she wears." Goku taunted, feeling guilty that he was being so mean to Vegeta. But if he didn't do something soon to end this fight over whatever perceived threat he was to Bulma in Vegeta's mind, he had a feeling Vegeta was going to fight to the death. He was beyond reasoning with.

Panting, Vegeta glared at Goku, hate and anger radiating off of his body in tangible waves. He was going to kill Kakarot slowly and painfully for even daring to make comments about his woman. Gathering what energy he had left, Vegeta started to power up again, centering his growing ki in his hand. He was about to release it at Goku's fat head, when he realized he had miscalculated in his rage and left himself open for an attack. Before he could do anything, Goku teleported behind him. The last thing he heard was a hurried apology as he felt the painful blow to the back of his neck that rendered him unconscious.

Sighing with relief, Goku watched as Vegeta fell forward. Catching him before he landed face first in the rocks, Goku heaved him up and threw him over his shoulder. Wrinkling his nose in disgust at the smell coming from Vegeta's body, Goku made a snap decision to take Vegeta to his house instead of Capsule Corporation. He had a feeling that if Bulma saw Vegeta like this, she would put the blame squarely on his shoulders. And seeing as she had been acting bizarre and overly aggressive, he didn't want to have to fight her off either. Concentrating on the location of his home, he put his fingers to his forehead and transported himself there, hoping he didn't end up in the bathroom while Chi-Chi was taking a bath like he had done the last time.

_A few moments later…_

Chi-Chi was humming to herself as she bustled around her small kitchen, preparing the fish that Gohan had caught earlier in the day for supper. She was about to check on the rice when she heard a commotion coming from the living room. Deciding to check it out, she made her way through the doorway and was surprised to see Goku standing in the middle with a relieved look on his face carrying what looked suspiciously like a body.

"Goku! What on earth are you doing in the living room? I thought you were sparring with Piccolo!" It was then that a horrible smell wafted past Chi-Chi's nostrils. Covering her mouth and nose with her apron, she glared at Goku. How dare he pass wind in her presence? He was such a disgusting lout most of the time. "Goku, I can't believe you! How many times do I have to tell you to go outside when you feel the urge to let one fly?" Chi-Chi yelled as she brandished the spoon that she was holding in her other hand at her inconsiderate husband.

Looking embarrassed, Goku blushed before he answered his angry wife. "Hey Chi-Chi, it's not me, honest!"

Trying not to gag, Chi-Chi moved away from the offending odor. "Then where is that awful smell coming from if it isn't you?"

"Uh, it's coming from Vegeta." Goku replied nervously. He had a feeling when Chi-Chi learned about their houseguest, he was going to be spending the rest of the evening running away from her frying pan.

"Oh, very funny Goku. Vegeta. You must think I'm pretty gullible to fall for that one Goku, honestly. He's not even here!"

"Yes he is Chi-Chi! I'm carrying him, see?" With that, Goku turned around so Chi-Chi could see the unmistakable profile of the back of Vegeta's head. Slowly swinging around full circle, he waited apprehensively for Chi-Chi's reaction. It wasn't long in coming.

Turning red, Chi-Chi came up to Goku and smacked him in the head with her spoon.

"Ouch Chi-Chi," Goku said as he rubbed the smarting spot on his head, "what'd you do that for?"

"Because you brought a mass murderer who wants to kill you inside my house, that's why! What were you thinking? When he wakes up, we're all going to be dead, and whose fault will it be? I thought you loved me Goku!" With that, Chi-Chi fell onto the couch she was standing nearby, sobbing loudly and overly dramatically.

Looking at his wife uncomfortably, Goku tried to reassure her. "Hey Chi-Chi, it's not that bad. Vegeta isn't going to try to kill me until after the Android threat is over with."

"Oh, and that's supposed to reassure me? Why did I have to marry a man that everyone wants to kill? What was I thinking?" Chi-Chi poured out.

Sighing, Goku rubbed his head with his free hand. "Look Chi-Chi, it's only for tonight. Vegeta's…uh, he's not doing so good. He's been out in the mountains and, uh, he hasn't been eating right. He just needs a place to rest up. Knowing him, he won't stick around for long." At least Goku hoped he wouldn't. Then there was the fact that Vegeta was probably going to be very upset that Goku had bested him, and he was also nervous that Vegeta might still think that he was trying to get it on with Bulma. He didn't want to wake up in his bed with Vegeta trying to strangle him. He gulped nervously, hoping that none of those predictions would come true. "You won't even have to see him. He needs a bath and some clean clothes. I knocked him out, so he should be out of it for a little while. I'll clean him up and give him some of my clothes. He can sleep in the spare bedroom. I won't even tell Gohan he's here, seeing as he has the same opinion about Vegeta as you do."

"Goku, anyone with a brain in their head would dislike Vegeta. I still don't understand why you think there's anything redeeming about him." With that, Chi-Chi decided she was done having hysterics about the situation. She really couldn't say no to Goku. She loved him even though he drove her to distraction almost every single day.

Goku watched as his wife stood up. "It's like this Chi-Chi. I was there when Vegeta died on Namek. He told me his whole circumstances in life, and for the first time, I think he finally showed someone that he _is_ capable of feeling. And I'm not the only one who cares about Vegeta. I'm doing this for her." Goku said softly. With that comment, Chi-Chi narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, and who might this mystery woman be? She's probably out of her mind if she can find anything likeable in him!"

"I can't say who it is Chi-Chi. I promised."

Glowering, Chi-Chi put her hands on her hips. "Fine, don't tell me who it is. I see how you are." Letting out a huff of frustration, Chi-Chi finally decided to let Goku have his way when she saw the concerned look on his face. "All right. You can do whatever you want with Vegeta. But if he attacks us all in the night, I'll never forgive you. Just take him away and give him a bath. His stench is making me sick to my stomach! And make sure not to bother Gohan. He's working very hard at his studies and I don't want him anymore behind than he already is!" With that, she turned around and marched back into the kitchen to check on the meal she was currently preparing.

"Thanks Chi-Chi! You won't regret this, I promise!" Goku said as he bounded up the stairs, making sure not to bother Gohan. Entering into the small spare bedroom, he carefully laid Vegeta out on the bed. Thankfully, he was still out cold. Looking at the Saiyan Prince, Goku noticed how small and sickly Vegeta looked and it saddened him. He didn't really understand what was going on between Vegeta and Bulma, but he hoped that they resolved it soon, otherwise that could spell disaster. Trunks had said they were meant to get together, even if it wasn't really true love, but Goku didn't believe it. He knew Bulma was capable of loving someone, and he had a feeling Vegeta had the same ability if he would just allow himself to have other feelings besides pride, anger and hatred. Humming to himself, Goku went into his own bedroom and pulled out an old fighting gi that wasn't orange and blue. He put it neatly on the chair that was up against the wall. Running to the bathroom, he turned on the water in the bathtub. The thought of giving Vegeta a bath was rather intimidating, but Goku couldn't stomach the way he smelled or looked, and knowing Vegeta, when he woke up, he wasn't going to stick around to administer to himself. Letting out a sigh at how funny life was sometimes, Goku went back in the spare room to grab Vegeta, hoping he wouldn't wake up until well after his bath. He just didn't want to imagine the consequences of what Vegeta would do to him if he found himself in such a compromising position. Steeling himself towards his duty, Goku pushed all of his negative thoughts to the back of his head only thinking about how nice Vegeta would smell when he was done.

_Hours later…_

Vegeta groaned as he found himself making his way back to conscious awareness. His dreams had been nothing but the same torture he dealt with every time he allowed himself to fall asleep. For months, they had been filled with nothing but Bulma. More specifically, mating and finally finishing the bonding process. Looking at the ceiling above him, he remembered the stupid vow he had made months ago to never bond with her. But he was loosing the fight. He hadn't really believed Nappa, even after he'd started going through the whole wretched procedure himself. It had sounded like a silly tale meant to scare young and unsuspecting boys. Who could believe that a Saiyan would actually starve themselves or not be able to fight? It was too unbelievable. But the longer he went without fulfilling his need to finish what he had started with Bulma, the worse his condition was getting. He didn't want to eat even though he was starving. All he wanted to do was mate. The reality was, he couldn't go on like this indefinitely. He was getting sick physically and mentally as well. On top of that, the longer he resisted the more permanent the initial bond between himself and Bulma was becoming. She was pulling at him, luring him to herself. He knew they were sharing dreams and in the last few ones, they'd actually talked to one another, letting each other know exactly where they stood. All he had to do was cave in and go back to Capsule Corporation. He knew she'd give into him, just like she had the last few dreams he had shared with her. It was all up to him. Growling at his weakness, Vegeta punched the mattress he was lying on top of. That's when it suddenly clicked. Sitting up in bed quickly, he looked around at his surroundings, thoroughly confused.

"Where the hell am I?" Looking down at himself, he realized he was completely naked and his training gear was missing. How had he ended up here, wherever here was? The last thing he remembered was hiding out in the mountains trying to purge Bulma out of his system unsuccessfully. Over the last couple of months, his training had dwindled to non-existent as he fought continually to keep in control of his stupid body. So it didn't make sense that he was suddenly inside someone's house, cleaned up and completely naked. Thinking he had totally lost it, Vegeta wondered if somehow he had been out of his mind, kidnapped Bulma, and mated with her in a strange building. Letting his tongue run over his teeth, he breathed out a sigh of relief when he felt the now familiar sharpness of his fangs, which had become a permanent addition the longer he had gone without bonding with Bulma. So he hadn't completely lost his mind yet. But that still didn't explain where he was. Pushing his legs over the side of the bed, Vegeta stood up slowly. It wasn't until he was fully upright that he felt a very sharp pain where the back of his neck connected to his shoulders. Feeling alongside his neck, he found the spot that was aching, gingerly touching the tender lump that had formed there.

"Kakarot!" He was in Kakarot's house. He suddenly remembered fighting him over an imagined threat to his claim on Bulma. Groaning in embarrassment and anger, Vegeta realized Kakarot must have rendered him unconscious and brought him here. Not only had Kakarot seen him crying when he lay dying from Frieza's hand, he now all but knew that Vegeta was in the process of claiming Bulma, and he had fought the baka over her, letting his stupid body and instincts take control over whatever common sense he had left. It was unbearable that a low class Saiyan had seen him in all of his moments of weakness. To top it off, Vegeta had a sudden feeling that whoever it was that cleaned him up happened to also be Kakarot. He could feel his fury mounting over his humiliation. But in all honesty, he was as weak as a babe and no threat whatsoever to Kakarot. However, he didn't like being in someone else's power, and that was exactly how he felt at the moment. Looking around the room for something to wear, he hissed in anger when he realized that not only had he spent part of the night in Kakarot's measly hovel, he was also going to have to wear the idiot's clothing. Pulling the outfit on that was easily too large for him, he tried to adjust it as best he could.

"I know you think I should be grateful for what you did Kakarot, but I'm not the grateful type and I don't return favors." Vegeta said out loud to himself as he went back over to the bed he had woken up in. Sitting back down, he rubbed his sore neck and closed his eyes, trying to figure out what to do with the situation he was in. He remembered Kakarot mentioning something about Bulma, that he'd made some promise to bring him back to her. He felt out Bulma's feelings in the back of his mind, sensing that she was worried, tired, unhappy, and anxious. He wanted to yell at her and tell her she was being stupid, but instead, all he felt was the horrible feeling of guilt that he had recently become acquainted with. Why did he feel this way about Bulma? What did he have to feel guilty about? Who cared if she was feeling miserable and alone? He'd felt that way the majority of his entire life, and no one had given a damn about him until…until Bulma, and if he really felt like being honest with himself, stupid Kakarot. Well, he really didn't give a damn about Kakarot, still wanting to blast his pathetic hide for having the audacity to beat him from the very beginning. But Bulma…well that was a whole other dilemma.

Sighing, he leaned his head against the wall that the bed was next too. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to sort out what was really going on inside his head. Somehow, he had let Bulma get under his skin. According to Nappa's silly story, this was what was meant to happen between the two of them and neither of them had much of a choice. The longer Vegeta went with out completing the last stage of bonding, the worse it was going to be for himself and Bulma. He had resisted all of this time because he kept telling himself she was weak and pathetic and not worthy to be the mate of a high ranking Saiyan Elite, much less a Prince. But he knew there was another more fundamental reason why he had stopped from completing the bonding ritual. It was the whole part that concerned opening up his mind to Bulma. If he did that, she would know everything about him. His whole entire life. And once he gave that to her, there was no taking it back. What would she do with it? Would she throw it back in his face? Would she use it against him? That was the whole crux of the matter. Vegeta did not trust anyone for good reason. He had been used and abused his entire life so he had become very good at erecting walls around himself. He didn't even know who he truly was anymore, or what he would have been like had things turned out differently in his youth. So to open himself up like that in such an intimate way was terrifying to Vegeta. He didn't want to admit he was afraid of anything, but there it was staring him in the face. Once they were life-mates, he could still hide things from here, but she would know him inside and out, and the same would be true of him.

Well, what could he do about it? The only way he had ever learned to get over his fears was to face them head on. The longer he tried to avoid the things that scared him, the more that fear ruled his life. And he was not the type to be ruled by fear. It was then that Vegeta made his decision. He wasn't going to waste away to nothingness because he was too stubborn to finish what he had started. In his mind, there were more important things for him to be doing besides running away from the inevitable, namely becoming a Super Saiyan and then taking his revenge on Kakarot. He would rather finish what he had started with Bulma knowing it was his personal decision, not the result of instincts and hormones taking control of his mind. After it was over with, they could both go their separate ways.

Feeling satisfied with his decision, even if it was one he hadn't really wanted to make, Vegeta stood up and stretched out his atrophied muscles, disgusted with how gaunt he had become. In a way, he felt relief that this torture would finally be at an end. He had never planned on claiming a mate, his only real goal in life being the destruction of Frieza. Things seemed to have turned out much differently then he had planned and Vegeta sometimes wondered if the Great Saiyan Gods were laughing at his expense. Yawning loudly, Vegeta moved over to the window, hiking up his pants before they fell down his waist. Opening it, Vegeta stared out at the night sky before he crawled out of it, landing lightly on the narrow lip of roof that stuck out below the window. Solidifying his intentions, Vegeta blasted off into the night, heading towards a certain blue haired female and his uncertain destiny.

_Brace yourselves! The moment you've all been waiting for is almost at hand. Vegeta has finally made up his mind, but what will Bulma do? Find out in the next exciting chapter! And please read and review! Please._


	16. Chapter 16

_Okay gals and guys: here is the next chapter. I tried not to make it lemony, but there is some sexual reference, just as a warning. And I apologize for taking so long to update, but I had a big project due for a class that took me all week to finish. But it's done, hallelujah! So as a reward to myself, I finished this chapter! And thanks, thanks, thanks to everyone who reviews and continues to review! I really appreciate it. _

_Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ or characters except Muffin the wonder dog._

_Chapter 16_

_Capsule Corporation (Bulma's room, to be exact)_

Bulma tried to stifle another yawn as she sat and watched late night television alone in her room, her trusty dog Muffin sitting on her lap, giving her some measure of comfort and support. Stroking Muffin's soft fur, she closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose trying to rid herself of the headache she was developing behind her forehead. Of all the other rotten feelings and thoughts Bulma had become accustomed to since Vegeta had left, the crappy lack of sleep induced headaches were the worst. They just never went away; no matter how many painkillers she popped. Ugh, what she seriously wouldn't do to feel like her regular self. Leaning her head back against the chair she was currently sitting in, Bulma let her mind wander back to the person who seemed to be occupying most of her thoughts lately: Vegeta. She wondered how he was, what he looked like, if he was faring better than she was. In her heart, she was glad that she had gotten Goku to go after the stubborn idiot, even if she still wouldn't fully admit to herself how much she depended on him to bring Vegeta back safe and sound from wherever he had disappeared to. Giving into temptation, Bulma felt out the ball of feelings that had somehow started to merge with her own. She had only done it one time before, when Goku had asked her where Vegeta was, not wanting to admit that she was afraid of what was happening to her in relation to Vegeta: that he hadn't been pulling the wool over her eyes in anger and retaliation for getting carried away with the kiss he had administered to her. The thought that Vegeta and her could communicate through their feelings was a completely foreign and alien concept to Bulma, one that she still wasn't truly ready to deal with. When and if Vegeta ever got back, he had a lot of explaining to do, and Bulma was going to make sure he told every single little detail that pertained to this whole bonding thing.

She was relieved when she sensed the core essence of Vegeta trapped in her brain. It still recoiled against her touch, but at least it was there. Soon after Goku had left, it had felt like her emotions had gone on a loopy roller coaster ride. One moment she was sitting in the lab trying to concentrate on the modifications she was making on her energy harvester feeling moody and skittish, and the next second, she felt the strongest wave of hatred she had ever sensed fill every cell of her body. At that moment, part of her wanted to attack anything that got in her way. Leaving the lab so that she wouldn't accidentally try to beat up a technician who asked her a stupid question, Bulma had wandered outside, trying to put a cap on the intense emotions that were currently running through her body. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, the horribly strong feelings of rage and hate disappeared being replaced with…nothingness. Having become somewhat accustomed to the constant sense of two sets of emotions in her head, the feeling of nothingness was frightening to Bulma, like she had lost a part of herself. It had continued on like that for a while, Bulma not knowing how long in actuality. To her it had seemed like eternity before the familiar ball of feelings had suddenly popped back into her head. And fortunately, they were still there. Letting out a small sigh, Bulma shifted in her seat, adjusting Muffin so she could get the circulation moving through her legs again.

"Vegeta, where the heck are you? Just come back home so I have the satisfaction of screaming at your good for nothing, stuck up princely self." Bulma muttered to herself as she decided to switch to another station. The one thing she had learned in the last few months was that there was nothing good on TV after midnight. All that seemed to be on the airwaves late at night were infomercials, re-runs of terrible shows and scary TV talk shows. But at least it was something to occupy her mind before she inevitably dozed off and started dreaming strange dreams about her and Vegeta and what it would be like to… Quickly cutting of that train of thought before she started having a waking dream similar to the ones that had become all too common when she fell asleep, Bulma tried to shift her attention. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if she had an outlet for what she was feeling, but every time she tried to find an avenue of release, her mind rebelled and so did her body. It was completely revolting, that she, an attractive single woman, was unable to find satisfaction with an equally single and eligible man who wasn't Vegeta. Sometimes, it made her want to just pull out all of her hair and scream in frustration, imploring Kami to give her some normalcy back into her life.

Letting out a cross between a yawn and a sigh, Bulma turned her attention back to the TV, her one and only constant friend these last few months besides Muffin. It was difficult though. She was currently watching an infomercial advertising the miraculous effects of instant spray on hair for bald men. Snickering to herself, Bulma thought about buying a can for Vegeta. She knew he wasn't bald, but he did have a high forehead, and the way his hair stuck up with his huge widow's peak, if she looked at him at the right angle, he did sort of look like he had a receding hairline. Giggling slightly at the thought of Vegeta actually using the stuff, she didn't notice the slight knock on her bedroom door. She was in the process of trying to take down the phone number so she could order some as a prank gift for her ungracious, currently absent houseguest when she heard the knock again, this time somewhat more persistent. Looking at the clock and seeing that it was currently twelve after one in the morning, she wondered if her mother was starting to check up on her as though she were some sort of wayward teenager. Grumbling irritably for being interrupted, she carefully moved Muffin to the chair that was adjacent to the one she was currently sitting in before she got up. Lifting her arms over her head, she stretched out her tired muscles as she made her way slowly to the door.

Opening the door manually, Bulma decided to tell her mom to leave her alone. "Mom, do you have any idea what time it is? I'm not thirteen years old anymore! If I want to stay up past midnight, I have every right to! Now get lost before I blast you!" Bulma screamed at the top of her lungs before the door was completely open. Deciding she didn't want to look at her mom's hurt expression, Bulma started to shut the door, only to see a hand shoot through the crack that was remaining and wedge it back open before it could shut completely. Stepping back in confusion, Bulma tried to figure out what her mom wanted so badly that she would risk getting her hand squished in the door. Stepping back slightly, she squinted, trying to take in the shape of whoever was standing in the dim light of her doorway.

"Huh, I'd like to see you try and blast me. What a joke coming from a woman who has less ability to control ki energy than say, an ant."

Stepping back slightly from the doorway, Bulma shook her head, trying to convince herself that she hadn't completely lost her marbles.

"Vegeta? Is that really you or am I hallucinating?" Bulma asked tentatively, not trusting her common sense or her reasoning ability anymore. Maybe she was dreaming. They had become so realistic as of late and the scene unfolding before her seemed so familiar, it was hard to keep her bearings grounded in reality.

Moving into the doorway, Vegeta leaned on it casually, taking in the woman standing before him. He felt like he was drowning, the waves of desire flowing over his body making it hard for him to think straight. And since they were linked to one another, it wouldn't be long before Bulma would start reciprocating what he was feeling. At least he hoped she would because it would make his task a hell of a lot easier. Deciding to answer her question, he spoke up casually.

"Why don't you come over here and touch me? I assure you Woman, I am as real as they come." Vegeta said as he issued her a blatant invitation to come into his snare.

Bulma looked over at Vegeta with a look of distrust painted across her emaciated and tired looking features.

"Is that some sort of invitation Vegeta? Because if it is, you have another thing coming!" Bulma said quietly.

Looking at Bulma with a self-assured smirk on his lips, Vegeta decided to play with Bulma for the moment before he moved in to finish what he had started with her. "Is that so? Do you care to elaborate?"

Crossing her arms, Bulma felt all the anger and hurt and the myriad assortment of other feelings she had been having for Vegeta come to the surface. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, she didn't even know where to begin. Closing her eyes, she tried to sort out what it was she wanted to get across to him before she opened her big mouth and put her foot in it. Letting out a tired sigh, Bulma decided that approaching Vegeta in anger was probably not the wisest idea, since it seemed whenever she fought with him, it had the unintentional effect of turning both of them on, at least lately anyway. And she had to keep her mind focused, especially since she seemed to be so vulnerable to him. 'Why can't I ever pick men that are easy to deal with Kami? Why?" Bulma thought to herself before answering Vegeta. Thinking back to her days with Yamcha, Bulma almost wished things where the way they used to be. Almost. The truth was, she was tired of being used by men and there was this fear in her heart that if she finally allowed herself to give into Vegeta, losing him would hurt much, _much_ more than it had when she'd finally broken up with Yamcha. And she still couldn't understand why. She was about to answer Vegeta when he interrupted her train of thought with a sour grunt.

"Look Woman, are you going to stand there and zone out to wherever it is you let your mind wander off to or are you going to answer my question? The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go back to being normal again." There, he'd gotten out his intention so she wouldn't completely freak out on him when he closed in for the kill. Stepping inside her room before she could yell at him and tell him to leave, he calmly turned around and shut the door, making sure to lock it from the inside so there would be no interruptions.

"Gee, will you stop being so impatient for once in your life? How many times do I have to tell you, your Royal Highness, that the world does not revolve around you and your oh, so important schedule! Just hold your horses." Bulma said impatiently as she looked over at Vegeta who was now clearly invading her private domain. "And who said you could come in here? I don't recall inviting you in." Turning her head slightly, she motioned at the door. "Since you have the manners of a pig Vegeta, you can leave. I trust you know your way out." Well, that hadn't been what she had wanted to say, but he just made her so angry all the time. And here she had been moping about the house after him for months! She was just so darned confused. To top it all off, she really didn't want Vegeta to leave and she wasn't surprised in the least when he made no move to exit her room.

Looking over at the wench who was giving him a dirty look, Vegeta smiled to himself. "You say you want me to leave, but I know what you've been thinking for the last two months and I know what you're feeling right know. Let me assure you Woman, I am not leaving until I'm good and ready. And please spare me your hysterics. They won't do you any good. It's just you and me, alone. There's no one here to rescue you this time. And tonight is long overdue." With that, Vegeta pulled up on the oversized shirt he was wearing, lifting it over his head and throwing it clear of his body. Stepping in even closer, he watched as Bulma backed away from him.

Bulma could feel herself begin to panic. There was no mistaking Vegeta's intention. It was the same one it had been months before, but this time she could sense there was steely determination on his part that would make it almost impossible for her to get out of this situation. "Hang on Vegeta. Let's just talk about this okay?" Gods, what was wrong with her? Hadn't she been dreaming about this moment for months now? And now that Vegeta had finally come home, she felt those same feelings of fear and uncertainty surface whenever she found herself in this situation, even though she knew she wanted this to happen. Backing up, she continued to retreat until she felt herself run into the back of one of her chairs.

Looking at Bulma, Vegeta let out a growl of irritation and frustration. What was wrong with her? She had been suffering through the same turmoil he had been going through for the last couple of months yet when push came to shove, she was still trying to deny him what was his by rights. If she was a Saiyan, he was positive she wouldn't be acting in such a strange manner. Stopping where he was, Vegeta closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. This whole bonding thing with Bulma was becoming absolutely absurd and if she didn't hurry up and reciprocate what he was feeling at the moment, he was going to lose control over himself and then he knew she would hate him for the rest of her life. And for some strange reason, having Bulma hate him bothered Vegeta a great deal more than he wanted to admit. There had to be a way to get her to relax and stop acting like mating with him was the most repulsive thing on this planet, since he knew that she really didn't feel that way. The truth was, he had no idea on how to go about getting her to relax without tricking her. He wasn't some idiot human and he wasn't about to spout off platitudes of love and affection. Besides which, he didn't think she would buy such behavior from him anyway. She was too smart for that. Maybe if he could tap into her mind again and get her to kiss him, she would loosen up enough to let his feelings feed into hers and guide her past the point of no return. Deciding it was worth a try, Vegeta changed tactics. Backing away from Bulma, he waited for her to relax a bit. It didn't take long before she was stepping away from the chair that had effectively stopped her from getting too far away from him.

"That's better Vegeta. You were starting to make me nervous." Bulma said as she wiped her sweating palms on her pajama pants. Letting out a sigh of relief, she finally allowed herself to take a good look at Vegeta. Letting her motherly instincts take over, she was dismayed at what she saw. He looked as bad, if not worse than she did. "Oh Vegeta, what have you done to yourself? You look terrible." She didn't realize it, but she started to move in closer to where he had backed off to. Putting her hands on her hips, she shook her head at him. "If only you weren't so stubborn, you wouldn't have ended up like this! We have plenty of food here at Capsule, not the gross stuff you have to eat out in the wilderness." She shuddered at the thought of some of things Goku used to eat when she had first met him. Picturing Vegeta eating roasted wolves and worms was more than a little bit revolting.

"You're right. I probably would have fared a lot better had I not left the premises. But my condition has nothing to do with a lack of food."

"Yeah, I bet you're going to say it has everything to do with that bonding garbage you were feeding me before you ran away." Bulma countered. "And if it does, I want you to explain to me what you've been doing to my head the whole time you've been gone."

Smiling slightly, Vegeta moved in closer to where Bulma was standing, starting to enjoy the little game they were playing with each other. But this time, he was going to come out the winner, not the other way around.

"I haven't been doing anything to your head. That's what happens when two people are linked empathetically and then go about trying to deny the possibility of forging a permanent bond. If you had been paying attention when I told you all of this the first time, you would know."

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Bulma plowed on ahead. She wanted solid answers, not this garbage he kept feeding her to try and scare her. Pushing her hair out of her face, Bulma spoke up. "Fine. But the only thing I remember you telling me was something about forging a telepathic bond and that biting someone on the lips was one way to accomplish it. You never said anything about sensing someone else's emotions, dreaming about them all the fucking time and then going through some crazy withdrawal thing. So just explain to me what is going on, and this time, do it in detail!" With that, Bulma crossed her arms and made her way over to her bed to sit down. She wasn't going to stand around and wait for his absurd answers. Making herself comfortable, she waited for him to answer.

Smirking at Bulma, Vegeta let out an inward sigh. Maybe he would finally get through to her the gravity of the situation they found themselves in. Then they could mate and it would be over with.

"You want an explanation then I suppose I had better give you one. But I'll keep it short and sweet. I don't want to have to waste anymore time than I already have." Sensing that Bulma was about to interject, he put up his hand and motioned her to keep silent. "I already explained to you about the initial challenge. And I somewhat explained to you about opening a telepathic link. When I bit you, I opened up your mind more clearly to my own, although I was able to manipulate you from the beginning. Perhaps we wouldn't be in such a pathetic condition had that been the only thing we did between each other. But you sealed the deal when you bit my hand and tasted my blood, making it a two way interaction, thus completing the initial bond which forms an empathic link." Looking at Bulma, Vegeta made sure she understood what he had just said before continuing on. Seeing and sensing she seemed to be getting what he was telling her, he cleared his throat and spoke up. "I thought that perhaps if I stayed away from you, I could ignore my demons and cleanse myself of any desire to take you on as my mate. But through our empathic link, we each have been able to feel what the other one is feeling, creating a lure between the two of us. The longer we have been separated, the stronger it has become until we have gotten to the point where all we can think about is joining with the other one. Believe me Bulma, had I any other choice, I wouldn't be here right now. But my hands are tied and there is only one course of action that will end this torture between the two of us." Satisfied that his explanation was more than sufficient, Vegeta started to move in closer but was stopped when Bulma spoke up from where she was sitting.

"Hang on bucko. What about the whole dream thing? Were they real? I was having dreams about you even before we bit each other." Bulma said, embarrassed to be admiting such a foolish thing.

"What of them? I don't know about any dreams you were having about me before hand and quite frankly, I don't really want to know, especially if they also involved that pansy ass weakling you had as your previous mate. All the other ones were manifestations of what each of us has been feeling and thinking. So for all that you keep trying to deny me my right Woman, I know that you are just trying to keep yourself in denial because it's safer than admitting you want me." Smirking, Vegeta could feel Bulma's ire raise, which is exactly what he wanted to have happen.

"Oh, pu-lease Vegeta! You are so full of yourself. Okay, so we both know I think you're tolerable to look at. And okay, I can admit that maybe sleeping with you is more than a little bit intriguing. But you have an ego bigger than the entire universe. And I am not, repeat _not_ going to end up becoming fodder for it. I'm tired of being the butt of some sort of universal joke that says Bulma is the biggest chump this side of the galaxy when it comes to men. It was bad enough with Yamcha, but the last thing I need is for all of my friends and family to know how pathetic I am because I slept with a guy whose only interest in me is to keep me as his own personal concubine and than leave me high and dry as soon as he kills one of my best friends."

Feeling his own irritation level beginning to reach the boiling point, Vegeta wanted to shake some sense into Bulma. She was being completely impossible. He supposed he could understand her uncertainty and fear because he felt exactly the same way. But letting such thoughts rule her life was as unacceptable as letting them rule his own.

"Look Woman, you don't have any choice. Your fate is sealed to my own. That's how it works. Once this is over with, you will be mated to me for life." If that didn't satisfy her fears of being left high and dry, he didn't know what would. Ugh, he was starting to sound desperate, but in truth, he was. The longer she kept drawing this out, the hornier he was getting.

"Yeah, I remember you saying something like that. But you also said you would never take me on as your wife and I don't want to be mated to you for life Vegeta."

Clenching his teeth in exasperation, Vegeta did the only thing he could think of to get her to stop being so obstinate and reluctant. It was almost humiliating how much she was still trying to deny him when he knew she didn't really feel that way. He was a Prince for Kami's sake, not some low class loser! Moving forward faster than Bulma could track, he grabbed her arms and pulled her up against his body. Taking his hand, he moved it under her chin, raising it so that their eyes were locked with one another.

"Enough. This is becoming ridiculous Bulma. I will not be denied any longer." Vegeta said as he caressed her chin with his thumb, watching her as her breathing picked up imperceptibly. Smirking slightly, he leaned in towards her and crushed his mouth on top of hers. That was all it took for Bulma's resolve to crumble and fly away upon the wind. Before she knew it, she wound her arms around Vegeta's back, feeling herself becoming totally and completely absorbed in the kiss she was sharing with him. It was like heaven, just like how it had felt the first time that they had given in and kissed each other. And this time, she could sense the feelings that were raging not only through herself, but Vegeta as well. If she had thought the river of passion between the two of them had been intense the first time they kissed, it had only grown in intensity the longer they had been apart from one another.

Bulma felt Vegeta's hand run through her hair, grabbing a handful and pulling her head backwards. She heard herself moan, suddenly feeling embarrassed she was making so much noise when she had been trying to deny him when he first showed up in her room. But she couldn't help it. Taking a breath when Vegeta moved his mouth off of hers, she didn't have time to contemplate what was happening between them. Smelling that same strange aroma that had intoxicated her the first time they had kissed, Bulma could feel herself being lulled into that peaceful state where anything that happened between the two of them would be alright. But this time, instead of pulling away, Vegeta came back in, nipping at her lip enough to draw blood. Licking her lip with his tongue, he didn't say anything as he lowered his head to her neck, sucking on the spot that would soon link the two of them together for eternity. It was pure torture for Bulma, who no longer felt like she was in control of herself. It was just like in the dreams she had been having, and she had a feeling she was finally going to find out what would happen when Vegeta fully bonded with her, if such a thing actually existed.

Opening her eyelids slightly, Bulma watched as Vegeta kissed the spot where her neck and collarbone met. She felt his other hand as it caressed her bottom, much like he had done when he had tried dragging her up the stairs to his room. She let out a gasp of surprise when he nipped the spot with his fangs, drawing more blood to the surface. It was sort of disgusting, but Bulma felt herself enjoying it. However, she didn't want him to be kissing her there. She wanted him to kiss her on her mouth. Pushing one of her hands into his hair, she pulled his head back from where it was, only to see Vegeta stare at her with a look so filled with unbridled lust, she was amazed they were still standing in their clothing.

"Becoming a little impatient, are we? Well, I suppose I can be a bit more obliging." This time, when Vegeta pushed his mouth on hers, he also took the initiative and pushed her down and back onto the bed that was conveniently right behind them. Bulma let out a squeal of surprise when she felt herself landing on her pillows with Vegeta on top of her. She felt the familiar feeling of panic start to resurface, but it was quickly squashed down by something she couldn't explain, something that told her to stop being afraid of the inevitable. Relaxing a bit, she opened her mouth to Vegeta's, tasting her blood on his tongue. Without understanding why she would do such a thing, Bulma bit down slightly on Vegeta's tongue, drawing out his own blood and a groan of pleasure from her Saiyan Prince. She didn't know how long they lay on her bed making out when she sensed a growing impatience coming from Vegeta and also from herself. She didn't object when she felt him push her legs apart with his knee or when she felt him remove her own clothing and his as well. Opening her eyes, she looked at him. He looked half wild, kneeling above her, his hair slightly mussed where she had pushed her hands into it and his slim body panting with exertion. He also looked as though he was waiting for something, some signal from her before he could continue. Touching his face with her hand, Bulma heard herself repeat the same words she had said countless times in her dreams, still not completely realizing the enormity of what she was doing with Vegeta.

"Vegeta, I surrender to you." That was all it took. For the first time, Bulma would finally find out what it meant to be bonded completely to Vegeta. And it was unlike anything she could have ever imagined: completely terrifying and completely wonderful.

_A few hours later…_

Vegeta woke up with a start, looking around at the room he was currently in, somewhat disorientated. For the second time that night, he found himself completely naked and in a strange room. But this time, he knew where he was and he knew why he was in the nude. Sitting up, he looked at Bulma who was sleeping on her side, her back facing him. Closing his eyes, he tried to get a hold of his rampant thoughts. She had finally given in and he was more than a little bit surprised by the fact that he still wanted her after he had just supposedly purged his mating instincts out of his body. Growling in disgust over his weakness, Vegeta lay back on his pillow, part of him not wanting to disturb Bulma from her beauty rest and part him wanting to rouse her and start all over again.

Sighing slightly, he moved his hand along his neck, finding the bite mark Bulma had given him, assuring him that the god-awful bonding process was finally over with. But his mind was still trying to digest everything he had felt and saw about Bulma. Nappa hadn't been lying when he had told Vegeta about the melding of memories and consciousness. He now effectively knew more about Bulma than he had ever wanted to. And it just went to show how much he had changed since he had first challenged Kakarot because he wasn't completely repulsed by Bulma's life. In fact, he almost felt a little bit sorry for her. For all that he was validated in thinking she was a spoiled, obnoxious brat who had always lived a pampered existence, he realized that there were more parallels in their personalities and lives than he would have thought possible. She gave of herself to others and was often times ignored or disregarded for all of her effort. Vegeta knew that feeling intimately. It was how it had been working under Frieza. The only thing was, Vegeta didn't want to admit to such a thing because in his mind, he was going to be doing the same thing to Bulma like everyone else she knew. He couldn't afford to waste anymore time concerned with her. He had gotten way off track with the bonding process and now he had to do double or triple duty to make up for lost time to gain the ability to transform into a Super Saiyan. Also, he did not want to know what Bulma was going to truly think of him after glimpsing his entire life history. He was a hardened warrior, but the awful truth was, he was apprehensive about the fact that she would find him completely repulsive and horrific. He had known that she knew something of his past. In truth, he had enjoyed lording over the fact that he could kill anyone without provocation or feelings of guilt. For most people, that was how he wanted to be known: as a ruthless killer without remorse. But with Bulma, he wasn't so sure if her thinking about him like that was acceptable. He didn't care if she liked him or not because in all honesty, he didn't really like her very much. However, he suddenly realized what she thought about him was important.

Shaking his head in disgust at his sudden softness, Vegeta looked over at the clock. It was almost four in the morning. Deciding he wasn't going to get anymore sleep, he slowly sat up and pushed his bare legs over the edge of the bed. Padding softly to the other side, he picked up Kakarot's disgusting clothing, pulling the shirt over his body so he could walk out in the hallway without someone seeing his naked form. He was about to head towards the door when he heard something. Turning his head, he relaxed when he was that it was just Bulma rolling over in her sleep. He didn't know why, but he found himself walking over to her side of the bed. He watched as her chest rose and fell softly. He didn't understand the feelings of protectiveness and possessiveness that suddenly invaded his thoughts. Subconsciously, he had been feeling that way about Bulma for a long time, probably even before she had broken up with the baka pussy mate of hers. But it was suddenly now that he realized how much they had merged as part of his conscious awareness of Bulma and that was dangerous. Feelings were a weakness, a liability. Swallowing slowly, he edged in a bit closer to where she was sleeping. He didn't know what possessed him to do it, but he found himself pushing Bulma's hair out of her face so he could look at her better. She truly was stunning even as sickly as she looked, and in her current state, she looked so peaceful Vegeta suddenly felt a very strong feeling of envy wash over his body. Stepping away quickly before he made even more of a fool of himself, he resolved himself on his course of action and headed towards the door, only to be interrupted by Bulma's furry beast.

"Stupid mutt." Vegeta muttered as Muffin ran around his legs yipping shrilly. How long had the dog been in the same room as the two of them? He didn't want to think that he had possibly not only shared the bed with Bulma but her repulsive dog as well. Disgusting! Putting his finger to his mouth, Vegeta hissed at Muffin to be quiet, surprised when the mutt actually obeyed his command. It was a testament to how tired Bulma must have been that she didn't wake up from the racket, and for that, Vegeta was eternally grateful. It was bad enough he was permanently bound to the harpy, but he didn't want to have to listen to her bitching first thing in the morning.

Opening and closing Bulma's bedroom door quickly before Muffin could escape after him, Vegeta made his way to his own room. Seeing that everything was exactly how he had left it, he made his way to the closet and pulled out some of his training gear. Making his way to the shower, he pulled off Goku's shirt and ki blasted it before it hit the ground, watching as the ash scattered across the floor. 'If only it was actually Kakarot. Maybe someday soon, it will be.' Vegeta thought as he stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water. Letting out a deep breath, Vegeta tried to concentrate on his training for the upcoming day and he also tried to firmly push Bulma's consciousness to the back recesses of his mind. Lathering up his body with a bar of soap, he tried to reassure himself that things would only get easier from here on out. But for some reason, he had a nagging feeling that things in his life were never going to be simple or easy again.

_Hmm, is life ever simple? Not for Vegeta or Bulma. Well, they finally tied the knot, so to speak, but what will Bulma think when she wakes up? Find out next time! And please, read and review! _


	17. Chapter 17

_Dum da da dum! Presenting Chapter 17. Seriously, I feel like I'm writing a novel or something with this story, but at least I'm having a good time doing it!_

_And thanks to the following people who have given me reviews: Bulma and Vegeta Fan, HannibalFrost, Cappuccino Penguin, Chazie, Amelia21, Pearl3, SuperMaz, WitchyWiccan, Piano Thief, Headless-Whore, __Mumblezrokr, __Saiya-jin Queen, __SilverWing145, __Chibi-fangurl56, __Karma7K, __pink lolly, __MikoKriszty, __cedarrapidsgirl78, __brenu, __Elisabpshady, __assassinatorgirl, __Veg18, __Lonaargh__, and __turtle fan__. You guys are the greatest and I hope you are still enjoying this story. _

_Chapter 17_

She had no idea what time it was or how long she had been asleep, but for the first time in months, Bulma actually felt as though she had finally gotten a decent night's rest. Yawning loudly, she sat up slowly in her bed, taking in her bedroom surroundings while simultaneously stretching out her slugabed body. Craning her head towards the window to see what sort of weather the day had brought with it, she felt a sharp pain coming from the vicinity of her neck. Lowering one of her arms, she touched the spot where Vegeta had bitten her, feeling a blush begin to creep up her face. In truth, the whole night had been nothing more than a foggy dream to Bulma. Waking up, she still hadn't been sure if what had happened last night had been the result of her overactive imagination or reality. But feeling the pain in her neck and elsewhere on her body, she couldn't deny the reality of what had happened. Closing her eyes, for the first time, she tried to recall clearly exactly what _had_ happened between her and Vegeta.

Deciding she wasn't going to be able to clear her head, much less think about her suddenly shifted relationship with her ungracious houseguest; Bulma pushed herself out of her bed. First thing was first; she definitely needed to take a shower. She felt sticky and sore and altogether completely unattractive. Shaking her head, she couldn't understand why it was whenever something happened between herself and Vegeta, she always ended up feeling like she had been run over by a Mack truck while simultaneously looking like she had been washed down the sewer. Making her way to the bathroom, she kicked her discarded pajamas and Vegeta's discarded pants out of her way. "He probably looks like normal. It just isn't fair that whatever happens to him, he always looks good." Bulma grumbled, even though she knew it wasn't really true. Thinking back to last night, Vegeta had looked as bad she had and it was a scary thought to realize that the whole time they had been apart, their connected feelings had each caused them to mirror one another physically and mentally. Sighing loudly over her predicament and uncertainty about what a 'permanent' relationship with Vegeta would bring, Bulma opened and closed her bathroom door, readying her shower so that when she stepped into it, she wouldn't be blasted by cold water.

Pushing her mussed up hair out of her face, Bulma went to the bathroom sink to wash her face before stepping into the scalding hot water of her shower. Taking a good look at her appearance, she moaned in embarrassment and surprise. She still looked like a living skeleton, but on top of that, it looked like she had been mauled by an animal. On her neck were deep gashes that had scabbed over where Vegeta had bitten her at least two times last night. Touching the wounds, she was surprised that she hadn't screamed in agony. But then again, her mind had been overwhelmed at the time by other thoughts and feelings and she realized, if she was remembering correctly, she had bitten Vegeta in the same corresponding spot on his neck. Still trying to figure out what had possessed her to do it, she had an uncanny idea that it was Vegeta using his sneaky mind techniques that had somehow tricked her into her behavior. And whatever such an action meant, she knew there were going to be consequences. She just hadn't figured out what those consequences were and she had a feeling Vegeta didn't have a clue either.

Stepping away from the sink, Bulma jumped into the shower. Letting out a groan of pleasure when the hot water hit her cold and goose pimply flesh, Bulma tried to really concentrate on the significance of last night and how she really and truly felt about what they had done together. Lathering up a puff with jasmine scented shower gel, Bulma started to wash her body as she contemplated what was going on in her mind as well as her heart. Talking aloud to herself, Bulma started to sort out her mixed up feelings.

"Well, I guess he's good in bed, but I can't really remember too much. I felt overwhelmed by him. But I wouldn't mind giving it another go. Yamcha was never as intense as Vegeta was last night that's for sure. I just hope he doesn't bite me again. My perfect neck is going to be scarred for life! The little jerk! And then there's this whole thing about what I really feel for Vegeta. Kami," Bulma implored for the millionth time, "Why do you always stick me with the worst men? What did I do in a past life to deserve this?" Bulma wailed as she wrung her hands out over her head. "Well, I guess it won't do me any good to mope around about my situation. All in all, I finally feel sort of normal again except I can still feel Vegeta in the back of my mind. And on top of that, he did something to me last night. Kami, it was like I was seeing his entire life, kind of like a movie. But man, if that's what Vegeta had to live like until he came to Earth, no wonder he's so unapproachable. I don't think he's ever known love or kindness in his entire life until he came here." Pausing in her recollections, Bulma rinsed off and then started to lather up her hair, which really needed a good scrubbing. Massaging her scalp with her fingernails, Bulma continued on with her imaginary conversation to Kami.

"It's like this Kami. I thought I had Vegeta all figured out. He came to Earth to destroy us all and he's never made any secret that he enjoys hurting and killing people. So it was really easy for me to judge him and condemn him as the worst sort of person imaginable. Yet what do I do when we get wished back here after that whole mess on Namek? I invite Prince Creepy to live at my house. Don't ask me what possessed me to do it because even I can't answer that one. Still, little by little I've seen and witnessed things about Vegeta that go contrary to the front he wants everyone to believe." Sighing, she rinsed out her hair and then put conditioner into it. "He's saved my life, rescued me from a dumb ass and he kicked Yamcha out. I know he says it was only so I would have to do stuff for him, but I have a feeling that there's more to it then that. And honestly Kami, I've been so obnoxious and bossy towards him, I'm amazed I'm still alive and kicking. But then again, it was all probably just a turn on for him. Still, I'm getting way off track here. What I'm trying to say Kami is that while I don't love Vegeta, I have to admit I do like him in a weird sort of way and I will finally admit, out loud to myself, that I do think he's a total hunk, even if he is short and smelly most of the time. I'm still trying to figure out when I started to really think he was a hotty, though. Well, it was nice talking to you Kami. I still don't think I have everything figured out, but when I do, I'll let you know." With that, Bulma shut the shower off, grabbed a big fluffy towel and started to dry herself off.

Hearing her stomach rumble in protest, Bulma decided it was time to head downstairs and eat a Saiyan size breakfast. Afterwards, she was going to find Vegeta. They seriously needed to sit down and have a talk because she would be damned if she was going to have him act like nothing had happened. She needed to know what he wanted of her. He said they where bonded for life, so she assumed that must mean something like marriage, if what had happened last night was the actual bonding thing. That needed to be cleared up. And if that was the case, she was going to have to lay some ground rules down. It was still shocking to her that she was in a permanent relationship with a guy, much less Vegeta of all people. Rolling her eyes, she pulled on some underwear and threw on her bathrobe deciding to head downstairs before her growling stomach ate a hole through her skin. Leaving her room and making sure to cover her neck, she ran down the stairs and skidded into the kitchen where her mother was currently cooking something that smelled suspiciously like steak. Bulma could feel her mouth begin to water as the tantalizing aroma wafted past her nose.

Hearing someone enter the kitchen, Mrs. Briefs smiled when she saw it was her daughter. Waving happily at Bulma, she quickly turned back to the meat she was browning before it could scorch to the bottom of the pan.

"Hey Mom, what are you making for breakfast? Isn't steak a little odd?" Bulma asked as she plopped herself down on a kitchen chair, making herself comfortable.

"Breakfast honey? It's almost supper time. You were sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to wake you up even though I have the most wonderful news!" Mrs. Briefs said as she flipped one of the steaks she was cooking on top of the small mountain she had already prepared.

Looking at her mother, Bulma let out a sigh and sank down deeper into the chair she had pulled out. She had a pretty good inkling of what her mother's good news was, positive it had something to do with their recently returned houseguest. Deciding it would be wise of her to pretend she didn't have a clue, lest her mother find out what had occurred between herself and Vegeta last night, she asked her about it.

"Well, are you going to tell me your news or not Mom? Enough with the suspense already!" Stifling a yawn, Bulma waited for her mother's response.

Turning around from the stove, Mrs. Briefs flipped her last steak onto the pile and then checked the oven to make sure her super-sized potato casserole was bubbling nicely. She hoped Vegeta would enjoy this meal. He had all but devoured everything in sight this morning and then again at noon, so she was pretty sure he wouldn't find this meal objectionable. And she needed him to stay at Capsule Corp. permanently because Bulma had been lost without him, even if she would never admit to such a thing in a million years. She was going to make sure the two of them got together if it was the last thing she did! They were too stubborn and headstrong for their own good, and she wanted grandchildren before she became too old to enjoy them. And at the rate Bulma was going with her love life that was never going to happen. Humming slightly to herself, she opened up the cupboard and started pulling out plates and silverware to set the table, ignoring the dirty look her daughter was giving her from where she was seated. Glancing over at Bulma, she decided to have her make herself useful. "Bulma, dear, why don't you help me set the table? I think we'll use the good dishes." Handing her the pile of plates, she smiled secretly when she heard Bulma muttering about how obnoxious she was. If only she knew the plan her mother had devised at the fly of the moment. It was just too perfect!

Seeing her mom bustle about the kitchen, intent on avoiding giving an answer to the question she had asked, Bulma grumpily set the table and then went to put napkins around. She was about to grab some paper ones when her mother interrupted her. "Sweetie, put the cloth ones out." Handing her daughter a stack of linen napkins, Mrs. Briefs went back to checking her food. Rolling her eyes, Bulma hastily put the napkins on the table, not caring that it looked like a two year old had set the table. She had a sneaking suspicion her mother was up to something and she was pretty sure it had to deal with her and Vegeta.

"Mom, what's the deal with the nice dishes and the cloth napkins? The next thing I suppose you're going to tell me is that were going to move into the main dining room and pretend it's a holiday or something. Come on. It's just me, you and Dad that are eating dinner. Besides which, you put out too many places." Playing along with her mother, Bulma decided to continue pretending she had no idea Vegeta was around, even though that was far from the truth.

"Did I?" Mrs. Briefs asked absently. "Oh well. Maybe we'll have an uninvited guest." Seeing her daughter put her hands up in irritation, Mrs. Briefs decided to speed up her idea before Bulma lost her temper and stormed out of the kitchen. That could not happen at all costs. Walking over to the communicator, Mrs. Briefs pushed the button that would page Vegeta to come in and get his dinner. Bulma had had them put it on so she wouldn't have to communicate with Vegeta back when the kitchen had been restored and Mrs. Briefs had thought it was ridiculous. However, it came in handy when she didn't want her daughter to know what she was up to. Smiling to herself, she went over to the sideboard and dug around until she found her crystal taper holders and the candles to go along with them. Putting them in the middle of the table, she lit the candles, hoping it would make the atmosphere somewhat romantic, even if it was just the kitchen and her daughter was dressed in only a bathrobe. Still, she thought evilly to herself, if Bulma was dressed in only a bathrobe and Vegeta was dressed only in his training shorts, it would make it that much easier for the two of them to let their desires get the better of them. This was such a brilliant plan on her part. It was then that she noticed Bulma's expression. She looked as thought she thought Mrs. Briefs had completely went off the deep end.

"Mom, I know you can be a little bit flighty, but don't you think putting out your one hundred percent lead crystal taper holders in the middle of the kitchen table is a bit much? This is a family dinner for Kami's sake and I'm only wearing my bathrobe!"

"Oh Bulma, lighten up a little. Sometimes change is a good thing. Besides, they don't get nearly enough use. Look how dusty they are!"

"Pu-lease Mom! You're up to something and I want to know right now or else you can forget about me sticking around for dinner!" Bulma said as she snootily put her nose in the air.

"Honey, I'm not up to something. Why would you ever get an idea like that? I just want us to enjoy a good meal together, that's all. Now come over here and put the casserole out while I make the salad." Motioning Bulma over, she gave her hot pads and watched as Bulma obediently pulled the casserole out of the oven and pushed it onto the table.

"Jeez Mom, are you planning on feeding an army? Dad, you and I are only going to eat about five percent of the casserole, not to mention the steak." Why wouldn't she just spill the beans that she knew Vegeta was back? That was the only reason Bulma could see that would make sense for her cooking such a large amount of food. Something was definitely up.

"Oh, I just got carried away. You know me! I just love to cook, and it just hasn't been the same around here without that hunk Vegeta. He always did love my cooking." Mrs. Briefs giggled as she pulled an enormous chocolate layer cake she had made earlier in the day out of the walk in refrigerator. Humming a happy tune, she put it gently on the counter, admiring how well her decorating job had turned out. Turning her attention back to the salad she was preparing, she quickly tossed it and then placed it on the table. Now all she had to do was wait for Vegeta to show up. She glanced over at the clock, surprised that it was taking him so long to come in and eat. Just when she was about to give up all hope that the gorgeous Saiyan Prince was ever going to make an appearance, the kitchen door opened and in walked the man himself.

"Oh look Bulma! Vegeta's back. That was my good news. Aren't you happy?" She tittered, ignoring the dangerous look Vegeta was giving her across the kitchen.

Bulma rolled her eyes sarcastically, suddenly seeing where her mother was going with the ridiculous dinner decorations. "Oh yeah, Mom. I'm about as happy as I am when I have to go in for an exam at the gynecologist's." Well, that wasn't really true. She was happy to see Vegeta, even though he looked like crap. He must have been up all day training in the Gravity Room and he looked exhausted, not to mention extremely cranky.

"Oh Bulma, you don't mean that." Mrs. Briefs said breezily as she went over and started loading a plate up with food for her and her husband. "Vegeta, why don't you sit down across from Bulma. You look famished." All she got for her trouble was another dirty look as Vegeta pointedly ignored both herself and her daughter, who looked like she was getting pissed off.

"Yo, Vegeta! My mom just asked you to sit down. It's only polite to answer the person who addresses you." Bulma said, irritated that he was acting like a first rate jerk. She didn't really expect him to be all lovey dovey and romantic after last night, but he was acting like she wasn't there and that's what made Bulma the most upset. Trying not to let his attitude get to her, Bulma looked away from him as he finally seated himself at the table.

"There, there you two. No quarreling is allowed!" Mrs. Briefs admonished the both of them. Bulma just huffed and looked away and Vegeta stared at the plate in front of him, a mixture of irritation, fatigue and anger evident on his facial features. Sighing because they where both being so obstinate, Mrs. Briefs decided it was time to make her exit. Maybe they would admit their true feelings for one another once she left the room. Grabbing the plate of food she had filled up, she started to head towards the kitchen exit when Bulma spoke up from where she was sitting.

"Mom, where do you think you're going? Didn't you just say this was a family dinner?" Her mom couldn't seriously be thinking of leaving the two of them alone together, could she? Narrowing her eyes, Bulma realized that's exactly what she was planning. This whole meal was a farce and she had a feeling her mother was trying to play matchmaker and set them up on a pseudo date. Well, the thing was, it was a little bit too late to be trying to make a match between the two of them because that had already happened, at least on a physical level. But the idea of eating a nice meal with Vegeta, alone, was the last thing Bulma really wanted at the moment. Yeah, she did want to spend some alone time with him so she could get some answers, but she didn't want to have to go through the motions of being civil with him at the dinner table, especially when he was acting like she was invisible. He hadn't even said his customary greeting of "Woman!" to her. Looking over at her mother, she implored her with her eyes to stay, which for some reason, only seemed to agitate Vegeta even more.

Seeing the desperate look on Bulma's face, Mrs. Briefs felt her resolve start to dissipate. But no! She was not going to go back on her plan. The sooner the two of them admitted their feelings for one another, had sex, and had a baby, the happier Mrs. Briefs was going to be. And she was going to make sure those three things happened or else. Pushing the door open with her foot, she made her excuse. "Oh, it was supposed to be a family dinner, but your father paged me while you were setting the table. He's too busy in the lab to come up for dinner, so I'm bringing it down to him. You've spent time alone with one another before. One little meal between the two of you won't hurt you know. Enjoy yourselves!" She said, giving them a little wave and a fluttering laugh as she made her exit.

Watching her mother leave, Bulma felt like she wanted to bury herself in a deep, dark pit. She had a feeling this meal was going to be extremely awkward, and Vegeta's attitude wasn't helping much either. Sighing, she started to help herself to a serving of potatoes and steak. The truth was, she hadn't eaten a decent meal in weeks, and now that she seemed to be over her preoccupation with Vegeta, her appetite hit her full force. Shoveling the food into her mouth, she savored the flavor and let out a loud, long groan when it hit her empty stomach. She had never thought of eating as something especially pleasurable, but right now, she felt like eating was even better than good sex. Looking up, she noticed that Vegeta wasn't staring at his plate but was looking at her intently. Coloring slightly, Bulma swallowed her mouthful before opening her mouth. "What are _you_ staring at Vegeta? Haven't you seen a woman eat before?" First he wouldn't even acknowledge her and now he was staring at her. He was really beginning to make her angry.

Speaking up slowly from where he was seated, Vegeta answered Bulma's rather unenlightened question. "I was just trying to understand how you could equate food with sex. They are two completely different things." With that said, he started helping himself to the food presented before him, noticing the ridiculous frippery that was on the table, which only proved to him how much Mrs. Briefs was a lunatic.

Bulma slowly lowered her fork, surprised at his comment. She hadn't said anything out loud about food being better than sex. Narrowing her blue eyes at Vegeta, who was currently stuffing his own face with food, she crossed her arms. "How do you know what I was thinking or was that just a lucky guess Vegeta?" Come to think about it, Bulma vaguely recalled that this wasn't the first time he had said something indicative of being able to read her thoughts. It was bad enough being able to sense each other's feelings, but being able to have Vegeta hear her thoughts was…scary. She wouldn't be able to keep anything from him again. Not that she really planned on doing something where secrecy was necessary. But still, it would feel like an invasion of privacy knowing at anytime he could pick up on her most secret thoughts and longings.

Gulping down his food, Vegeta didn't answer her until he was done with his first helping. "How could I not hear it. Your mind is as loud as your mouth Woman." With that, he motioned over to the casserole as though he was asking her if she was going to eat any more of it. Shaking her head no, Vegeta grabbed the whole thing and started eating it at record speed. Bulma had just lost her appetite.

"How…How long have you been able to hear my thoughts Vegeta? Since we first met?" Oh Kami, she hoped not! How mortifying for her. There were all the rotten and nasty thoughts she had thought about him when she had first become acquainted with him. He could use such thoughts as a form of punishment…or worse. Bulma swallowed nervously as she waited for his answer.

Finishing the casserole, Vegeta threw the pan in the sink and leaned back in his chair, watching his new mate seriously. "No, I haven't always been able to hear your thoughts. Thank the great Saiyan Gods or else I think I would have committed suicide from the torture." That was the truth. He had thought that perhaps because Bulma wasn't a Saiyan, the second part of bonding wouldn't effect him. In fact, he had felt relieved when he didn't hear a peep of her conscious awareness in his mind while he trained all day. But then it had happened. He knew as soon as she woke up because her thoughts and been steadily bombarding his mind, making his training extremely difficult. And she had the loudest mind of anyone he had ever known! First it had been sorting out her 'feelings,' then it had been resolutions, then it had been irritation at her mother and the list went on and on and on! Leaning over the table, careful to avoid the lit candles, he pushed the collar of Bulma's bathrobe down, exposing her neck and shoulder and the very evident bite mark he had left. There was absolutely no denying that she was his from now on. And the sharing of thoughts came along with the package. Touching the mark with his fingers, he felt Bulma stiffen up at his touch. Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in his gut that she couldn't stand him, he continued to stroke it gently. "We are bonded as Saiyan life-mates Woman. When we bit each other, we shared our consciousness with one another and now we have forged a permanent telepathic link between each other. And I'm beginning to understand just what a pain in the ass such a link is when the person I'm bonded with can't keep their mind closed. But then again, it's you we're talking about, the woman who has never learned to keep her mouth shut. So why would your mind be any different?" Drawing his hand away from her body, Vegeta sat back down and placed another steak on his plate, waiting for Bulma's reaction.

Scrunching up her face in anger, Bulma made her sentiments known. "Why you…I don't have a big mouth. Take that back Vegeta this instant or I'll, I'll…"

"_You'll what? Kick me out of your house? Fail to feed me? Not make necessary repairs? You should know by know that such petty threats mean nothing to me. Besides, you always end up doing the things you say you won't anyway."_

Bulma felt her body begin to reel in shock. There was no mistaking the fact that Vegeta hadn't said a word to her, but she had registered his thoughts loud and clear in her mind. Recovering, she shot him a dirty look. Two could play at this game. Concentrating on her words, she shot back a retort.

"_I still don't think I have a big mouth. And if my thoughts bother you so much, then you had better teach me how to control them, otherwise you're stuck!" _Ha, so there!

Looking at Bulma with admiration, Vegeta felt an uncanny feeling of pride in the mate he had chosen for himself. Smashing that thought, he tried to stiffen his resolve. His plan was to avoid Bulma and ignore her so that he could concentrate on his training. But he hadn't lasted more than two seconds after her moronic mother had left them alone. And teaching Bulma to control her thoughts was going to be a lengthy process. It would be foreign to her because she didn't have any natural telepathic ability. On top of that, it would mean they would have to spend a great deal of time alone together. Even though the urge to claim her and mate with her had left his system, Vegeta was still surprised over the fact that he still had sexual feelings for her. He had thought those would go away as well, but they hadn't. No woman had ever affected him like Bulma did, and he had a feeling that training her to control her thoughts was going to lead to more physical encounters in short order. He couldn't afford to risk it, yet he found himself answering her.

"Fine Woman, I'll train you. But it isn't because I want to and it certainly has nothing to do with any ridiculous feelings. I'm doing it out of necessity because I don't want to go insane from your incessant mind chatter." Vegeta grumbled out, inwardly kicking himself for being so pathetic around her. He hadn't even lasted one day apart from her.

"Well, you don't have to make it seem like it's the worst thing that could happen in your life Vegeta. If you really don't want to do it, I guess I could ask Goku or Piccolo. They're both telepathic." Bulma shot back at him, hurt that he was still such an ass. She had figured out this morning that this whole relationship thing with Vegeta wasn't going to be easy, but he was acting almost like nothing significant had happened and on top of that, he was making it seem like spending time with her was akin to having his body sliced apart piece by piece. And she was a very sensitive person, especially in relation to boyfriends. She was about to stand up when she noticed the look that Vegeta was giving her. He looked infuriated.

"Stay where you are Woman. We aren't finished yet. You will not train with those two idiots. You are mine and as such, these things will be dealt with by me and me alone, is that clear? If you allow Kakarot or Piccolo to so much as touch a hair on your body, I will kill them slowly and painfully and then I will punish you for such a betrayal. And having anyone delve into your mind besides myself is a clear infraction upon our bond." Vegeta said quietly, his voice cutting into her like a razor. Feeling the prickliness of tears beginning to form behind her eyes, Bulma tried to look away. She was just trying to help and he had to throw her good intentions back in her face. Men sucked especially Vegeta. Feeling a tear slide down her cheek, she wanted to beat herself up for being such a baby. Why his anger hurt her feelings, she didn't know. She should have realized last night was a huge mistake on her part, but what choice had she had? Trying to quickly wipe away the evidence, she grabbed a linen napkin and dabbed at her face. But it was too late. She had forgotten about their stupid bond and she hadn't been quick enough or sneaky enough to do it without Vegeta seeing.

Looking at her, Vegeta felt the now familiar feeling of guilt begin to churn in his stomach. He hadn't meant to be so harsh, but talking about letting another male link his mind with hers angered and sickened Vegeta. It was akin to having an affair, but he realized that Bulma had no idea what the ramifications of such an action would be. Standing up, he pushed his chair back and made his way to where Bulma was trying to unsuccessfully hide her tears. He didn't understand why, but whenever he caused her to cry, he felt ashamed of himself. And it was difficult to try and put a barrier up between himself and her, especially now when they were so intimately connected with one another. Taking her arm, he gently pulled her to her feet, surprised when she didn't struggle against him like she normally did when he touched her. Taking his free hand, he wiped away her tears and sighed, looking into her watery blue orbs. "Why are you so weak?" he asked softly.

"I…I don't know. You never used to affect me like this Vegeta. I used to just get pissed off at you and now…now I'm just confused. You've turned my life upside down."

"The feeling is mutual Woman," Vegeta conceded. Feeling his resolve to stay physically clear of her weaken, he felt himself riding the tide of attraction that was definitely evident between the two of them, even in their sorry states. Deciding to throw caution to the wind and actually experience what it would be like to mate with Bulma without the added influence of hormones or mating instincts related to the bonding process, Vegeta decided to give in just this once. After tonight, he wouldn't allow himself to cave into his attraction for her. At least, he conceded, until he attained Super Saiyan. There was too much riding on that blessed event to have other things occupying his mind, especially once he got Bulma to be able to close off her mind to his at will. Pulling her closer to his body, he was about to touch his mouth to hers when the kitchen door slammed open. Quickly pushing himself away from Bulma, he watched angrily as her irritating mother bustled in with the dirty dishes left from the meal she had taken down to Dr. Briefs. He was sorely tempted to blast her when she had the audacity to wink at the two of them like they were some sort of idiotic lovers. Clenching his fists he waited for her to hurry up and leave, but she didn't seem to have any intention of being speedy.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Mrs. Briefs smiled slyly. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything." She said as she put her dirty dishes in the sink on top of the pan Vegeta had already placed there.

Bulma blushed furiously. Of all the rotten luck, her mother had to walk in right when Vegeta had been about to kiss her. She didn't know if she was more embarrassed at being caught in a slightly compromising position with their houseguest or if she was angry because her mother had interrupted things right when they had started to heat up. Looking over at Vegeta, she could sense his feelings and wasn't surprised in the least that he was angry. Looking over at Bulma when Mrs. Briefs turned her back on them, he motioned with his hand exactly what he wanted to do with her mother. Instead of getting angry that he was making threatening gestures, Bulma felt like laughing, even though she didn't think Vegeta was making a joke. Still, her mother could be really irritating and it was amazing to Bulma that Vegeta hadn't done away with her a long time ago.

Looking over at where Mrs. Briefs was standing, Vegeta had a feeling she wasn't going to leave her domain anytime soon. Frustrated in more ways than one, Vegeta decided to go back out to the GR for a few more hours and then commence his training with Bulma afterwards. Maybe he would be too tired to do the other thing he wanted to experience but knew that he shouldn't be doing with her. It was just too dangerous to get attached to her. And then there was the fact that he still couldn't figure out if she loathed him or not. Pushing that thought to the side, he gave Mrs. Briefs a dark and sinister look before he focused his attention back on Bulma.

"_Woman, I'm going back out to the GR. If I don't leave soon, you're baka mother is going to be history. When I come back in after I'm finished, I'll start teaching you to block your thoughts from me. In the meantime, if you are going to think about something, make it something I will appreciate, not the inane babble that frequents your thoughts." _He was slightly relieved when Bulma nodded her head in agreement. With that taken care of, he made his way out to his private domain, readying himself for more grueling training.

Mrs. Briefs watched as Vegeta made his way out the door. Turning around slightly, she noticed her perfect cake hadn't been touched and was slightly disappointed. "Oh, you two didn't enjoy my dessert. And I worked so hard on it."

Clearing her head, Bulma turned her attention back on to her mother. "Ah, I guess we weren't really hungry for dessert." Bulma said, thinking of the other thing she actually was hungry for. Moving away from the table, Bulma decided to leave her mother alone to clean up the kitchen seeing as she was still really annoyed with her for a. leaving her alone with Vegeta and b. interrupting them at the most inopportune time. "I'm going to go get dressed and then head down to the lab. I've got things I need to work on and I don't really feel like spending the rest of the night cooped up in my room."

"Oh, that's fine honey. You go right ahead. And I'm sure Vegeta is back out training again. He's so dedicated. What I wouldn't do for a son-in-law just like him!" Mrs. Briefs cooed as she rinsed the dishes in the sink and started stacking them in the dishwasher.

Bulma just rolled her eyes. "Pu-lease Mom, get a grip. Why would you want a psycho-maniac for a son-in-law? That's a little bit scary to think about." To tell the truth, the fact that Bulma was now in a relationship with a psycho-maniac was more than a little bit scary. Shaking her head, Bulma started to head towards the kitchen door that led to the rest of the house. "Okay Mom, I'm leaving. See you later." With that, she opened the door and made her way back up to the rest of the house.

Watching as her daughter made her exit, Mrs. Briefs was overjoyed that her little experiment had worked so well, but also a little disappointed that she had interrupted them when she had. She was relieved to know that she hadn't been completely off the mark about the two of them. Hopefully, her wishes about seeing Bulma finally settled and having grandchildren would soon be fulfilled. She still had no idea how far along her daughter and Vegeta actually were in their relationship and the fact that according to Saiyan tradition, Vegeta was in actuality her son-in-law. Still, she was happy that things would be resolved between the two of them. It was about time that the two of them realized how perfect they were for each other. Finishing up her tidying of the kitchen, Mrs. Briefs made her way back to the apartments she shared with her husband, fanciful visions of dark haired, blue eyed babies filling her mind as she made her way through the house, happy that someday soon, her dreams would become a reality.

_Well, Mrs. Briefs will be getting her wish possibly sooner than she expected. But how will Bulma's mind control training go with Vegeta? Will Vegeta be successful at keeping his distance from his new mate? And will Bulma finally figure out exactly what her newfound status with Vegeta will be like? Find out in the next chapter! And please send reviews, especially if you would like to send feedback or would like to give me some input about the plot. My original goal was to make a humorous story about B/V getting together, but I feel like it has become too serious. Let me know your thoughts! Thanks-Vegamarie_


	18. Chapter 18

_Hey all! Special thanks to Cappuccino Penguin, HannibalFrost, Karma7k, Chazie, Supermaz, Bulma and Vegeta Fan, Saiya-jin Queen, Pearl3, Silverwing145 and Malaysia Harika 09 for your reviews and your positive feedback about how the story is progressing. I appreciate you guys a lot!_

_So, without further ado, I give to you chapter 18!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ_

_Italicized conversation means it's telepathic. _

_Chapter 18_

_About five hours after dinner (around 10 PM)…_

Bulma ran up the stairs from the lab, hurrying to the main floor of the house. She didn't know why she was in such a hurry, but nervous butterflies where dancing around inside of her stomach. She'd gotten more done in the few hours she'd been in the lab on her special projects than she had in the whole of the last two months. Surprisingly (or not so surprisingly), she had felt like herself once again, able to concentrate on her tasks without thinking too much about Vegeta. In fact, now that last night was over with, she was finally beginning to feel the relief of being able to be herself without turning into a crazy witch over the least provocation. Besides that, her stomach was full, she felt content, and even though things where far from resolved between herself and Vegeta, she was starting to see things in a positive light. Looking around, she realized she was at the landing of the stairs that led to the family apartments. Grabbing a hold of the banister, she skipped up the steps two at a time, making it to the top in record speed. Dashing over to her room, she opened the door and flung herself inside, closing the door quickly behind her. Panting for breath, she looked at her room in dismay. Gods, it was a complete disaster. Her pajamas where still in the same spot they had been in since last night. Her bed was a rumpled mess, and stepping closer, she could see bloodstains on her pillows and in other places as well. Deciding her room needed sprucing up big time, she called down to the front desk to have them send up a cleaning bot.

"Why do I even care?" Bulma asked herself suddenly, realizing what she was doing for the first time. "Hell, my room was always a mess whenever Yamcha came over, and it never bothered me then, so why is it bugging me now?" Crossing her arms, she walked over to the balcony window and looked out into the night, noticing that the Gravity Room lights were still on, meaning Vegeta was still training. Tapping her long fingers on her arms, she let out a frustrated breath, blowing her bangs out of her face. "Well, the bed does need changing. With all that blood, it almost looks like I was still the big V." She said, feeling a blush creep up her face. "Kami, I'm acting worse than a silly school girl with a crush, and I don't even like Vegeta that much." Stomping her foot, she glared at the GR. "I'm not changing my habits just because I have a new lover who happens to be a neat freak. At least, I think he is. I've only been in his rooms a couple of times, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's the kind of guy who folds his underwear, even though God forbid he should have to take a shower. Men!" With that, she backed away from the window and flopped herself in a chair.

Letting out a tired sigh, she started toying with her hair. Vegeta had said after he was done training that he would start working with her on how to control her thoughts. If he had filled her in on the details of Saiyan bonding from the beginning, she would never have gone along with him after discovering that little fact. Well, she told herself she wouldn't have gone along with it, but realizing how she had been feeling and acting in retrospect, she probably still would have slept with Vegeta regardless. Letting out another yawn, she looked at the clock before she flipped on the television. "If he's going to start teaching me thought control, than he better get his butt up here." And what if he did show up? Was he planning on spending the night with her? These were questions she still didn't have answers for. It would certainly ease the possibility of sneaking around at night if they were seriously going to be lovers. Blushing, she finally realized why she had butterflies in her stomach. Last night had been hazy, but if Vegeta decided to consummate their union again, she knew she would remember every last detail and she was nervous that he wouldn't think she was good enough. Berating herself, she put her head in her hand. "Ugh Bulma! Pull yourself together. It's just Vegeta we're talking about here. He probably doesn't know the first thing about making love, so why worry about it?" Shifting her attention back to the TV, she tried to focus her thoughts back onto what she was watching, realizing that for the last twenty minutes or so, she'd been most likely broadcasting to Vegeta her fears and uncertainties. This whole mind bond thing just stunk in Bulma's opinion. Letting herself relax, she sunk down deeper into the chair she was reclining in, letting the TV hypnotize her as she sat watching the commercials.

She didn't know how long she sat in a semi-catatonic state before she suddenly snapped herself out of it. Looking at her clock again, it was past 11pm. Rubbing her eyes, she realized she must have fallen asleep waiting for Vegeta to show up. Getting up slowly, she made her way back to the window to see if the Gravity Room lights were still on. Letting out a sigh of relief to see that the place was closed down for the night, she began to feel irritated because Vegeta still hadn't shown up. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she marched out of her room and walked next door to Vegeta's. Knocking on the door briskly, she suddenly felt nervous again. What if her mom or dad walked by? Or what if Vegeta decided to ignore her?

"Bulma, you are acting like a nincompoop! Mom already saw us almost kiss so I can guess she's probably already told Dad that he's going to have a grandkid in less then a year and that Vegeta's the father. Ha, won't that make him happy! Besides, if Vegeta tries to ignore me like he did before dinner, it's not going to happen. This girl is going to make sure he notices her and pays attention to her. No more wallowing around in self-pity. It's time to take control Bulma!" Punching her fist into the air to punctuate her new resolution, Bulma realized that Vegeta still hadn't answered his door. Scrunching up her face in determination, she made up her mind. If he wasn't going to come to her, then she was just going to have to come to him. With that thought in mind, Bulma pushed the button to open Vegeta's room and walked inside. It wasn't until she was inside his room that she realized her mistake.

Standing just outside of the bathroom door was a damp looking Vegeta who was patting his hair dry with a towel. The only thing was, he was completely naked and in full view of a very embarrassed Bulma. Turning beet red, Bulma backed up a few steps. Trying to take her eyes off of Vegeta, she realized exactly where they were anchored. It was like they where glued. No matter how many times she tried to pull her gaze away, she found herself staring at the exact same spot. And Vegeta was….impressive.

Crossing his arms, Vegeta splayed his legs apart slightly so as to display his male anatomy at a better angle for the woman who was blatantly ogling him. "Have you had your fill yet Woman?" he asked casually, a smirk of amusement plastered to his mouth.

Hearing Vegeta's voice, Bulma blinked slowly and glanced up at his snotty looking face. "Huh Vegeta?" she asked.

"I asked if you've had your fill Woman. Are you deaf as well as stupid?" Letting out a disgusted grunt, Vegeta waited for her answer. All in all, he was actually enjoying himself. He found it very amusing to toy with Bulma. Besides that, he had been aware of her intentions even before she had rudely barged into his room, so he had exposed himself to her on purpose just to see what her reaction would be. 'Stupid woman.' He thought to himself as he watched Bulma finally snap back to reality.

"I'm not deaf Vegeta and I'm not stupid either." Bulma yelled as she glared daggers at him. "Besides, you're just being purposely disgusting. Normal people don't walk around naked exposing themselves to innocent bystanders. Put a towel on for the love of God!"

"Well Woman, seeing as it's my room, if I choose to walk around without the benefit of clothing it's my right to do so. It's not my fault that you decided to barge in here after I just got out of the shower, now is it?" With that, Vegeta threw his wet towel into the hamper across from where Bulma was standing and then walked casually over to his closet, ignoring Bulma's outraged stare. He couldn't figure her out. What exactly was the big deal? He knew she wasn't an innocent, so seeing his male parts shouldn't have been that shocking. Frowning slightly, he wondered if she didn't like what she saw. Deciding he was being foolish, he ignored his doubtful thoughts as he rummaged around for a fresh pair of boxers. Finding some, he quickly pushed his legs through them, irritated when they didn't want to stay up. He had to get some meat back onto his bones because if there was one thing he really hated, it was not being able to fit comfortably into his clothes. Walking back outside of it, he closed the door, surprised to see Bulma still rooted to the spot she had been in since getting an eyeful.

Crossing his arms across his bare chest, Vegeta stared at her, meeting her blue eyes with his dark. He suddenly had the uncomfortable thought that he no longer was in charge of his own life, that he would forever have this woman to answer to, and she still really had no idea how connected the two of them were going to be for the rest of their natural lives. Nappa had made it seem like getting the bonding process over with would be the worst part. Afterwards, you could just continue on with the rest of your life as though nothing had happened. Maybe it was the fact that both he and Bulma were new to the bonding experience and they hadn't gotten used to their connection, but Vegeta certainly didn't feel as though nothing important had happened. He'd spent all day trying to ignore the feelings and emotions his new bond with Bulma had erected, feelings he thought he had either never had before or he had done away with when he worked for Frieza. It was extremely frustrating for him to still feel as though he had no control over his emotions, that he wasn't the remorseless self-proclaimed bastard he wanted everyone, including Bulma, to see him as. Life just wasn't fair or clear cut for him, but when had it ever been?

Bulma swallowed nervously, watching Vegeta as he stared at her, his face blank of all emotion except for his eyes, which seemed to show a certain amount of confusion and uneasiness. Pushing her hair out of her face again, Bulma let out a sigh. What was wrong with him? First he ignored her, then he flashed her and now he was staring at her as though she had grown another head. "Vegeta, what's the deal? Are we going to stand here and look at each other all day or are you finally going to start teaching me this thought control thing. Because if we aren't, I have better things I could be doing with my time than looking at you."

Snapping out of his reverie, Vegeta grimaced at Bulma. "Like what Woman? Watching television or sleeping? That's all you've been doing for the past few hours besides thinking ridiculous thoughts about you and me." Bulma blushed at the mention of her thoughts, wanting to kick herself for allowing Vegeta to see inside her uncertainties. The problem was, old habits died hard, and Bulma always used her quiet time to think over things that were bothering her in hopes of finding satisfactory solutions. And if she couldn't do that anymore without letting Vegeta in on her most secret thoughts and worries, she didn't know what she was going to do. Still, the only way to get some of her questions out of the way was to bring them out in the open instead of hiding behind them. Spotting a chair, she walked over to it and plopped herself down, ignoring Vegeta's angry look for having his private domain besieged.

"Well, since you aren't flat out ignoring me, there are some things we need to go over before you start showing me this thought control thingy."

"Oh, and what are they Woman? The sleeping arrangement? How to inform your parents that they have a psycho-maniac son-in-law?" He watched as she blushed, realizing how much of her thoughts must have been relayed to him over the course of the evening. "Well, I have no intention of sharing a room with you. Last night was a one time deal. We are bonded and that is as far as it will go. Once I finish training you on how to shut your mind off to mine, we will behave as we always have towards one another. You will do your thing and I will do mine. End of story." Looking on, he saw and felt how Bulma reacted to his statement.

Glowering furiously at Vegeta, Bulma was incensed. Leaning forward in her chair, she could feel her irritation surging through her gut.

"Hold on a second here Vegeta. You've basically told me that what we've suffered during the last two months was because of some Saiyan bonding ritual which, according to you, says that we were pretty much predestined for one another from the get go. But now that it's over with and we're bonded or married, or whatever the hell we are, as soon as I can close my thoughts off to you, you're just going to pretend it never happened. That is utter and complete bullshit Vegeta, and I refuse to be put on the back burner for the rest of my life because my mate or whatever you are doesn't want to deal with the uncertainties of having a committed relationship." Ignoring Vegeta's outraged body posture, Bulma pushed on with her point. "Look Vegeta, I didn't even want to bond with you but it happened. We both don't love each other and I can deal with that. Love can grow over time, I guess. But I've been in a loveless relationship where I was pushed to the side so my boyfriend could pursue other love interests and I will not allow myself to be put into that kind of situation again. If we are bonded or married or whatever we are, then we are going to act like it, at least to one another. And that's final, mister!" Leaning back in the chair with a huff, Bulma waited for Vegeta's point of view, which wasn't long in coming.

"Look Woman, I have already told you that we are bonded for life. So rest assured, I will not be pursuing other females. As for the rest of it, you're acting like a child that didn't get what they wanted from the candy store. Well, I will not apologize for who I am and I'm not going to change my behavior or motives just because I claimed you for my mate. If you were a Saiyan, you would understand where I'm coming from. I have a destiny to fulfill and you'll only get in the way."

"Well, I'm not a Saiyan now am I? And even if I was one, I certainly wouldn't allow my mate to act like there is nothing between the two us of even on a physical level. That would be completely pointless. And as for getting in the way, I don't even see how you could say something like that. When have I ever gotten in the way of your plans Vegeta, huh? Who's the one who pretty much let you borrow a spaceship so you could search for Goku? Who's the one that gave you a place to stay and a Gravity Room to train in? I know I've held that over you before, but it's the truth Vegeta. I've been helping you this entire time so that you can get strong to defeat the Androids. Believe me, if I had wanted to get in the way of your progress, you would have known it by now."

Vegeta stepped in closer to where Bulma was angrily sitting. He had known she wouldn't take his decision lightly, but he thought his arrangement would work out for the both of them. So why was she being so unreasonable? And why, when it boiled down to it, did he feel like his idea wasn't a very satisfactory one at that? "If you don't think that you've gotten in the way, then just look at the last three months. I'm as weak as third class and I'm far behind where I should be in my quest to obtain the legendary. And it's all because of you."

Bulma stood up angrily, her eyes flashing. That did it! "Whatever Vegeta! Don't try pinning our current predicament all on me again. It takes two people to do what we did last night and from what I gathered from the smidgen of information you decided to share with me about mating, you could have turned down my supposed challenge at anytime, but you didn't. So whether you intended for this to happen or not, you can't keep putting it solely on me because I'm not the only one responsible. Blame it on your stupid Saiyan genes or your dumb hormones or the fact that you probably haven't had a good lay in like ten years or something, but don't blame it on me!"

Vegeta stared at her with his mouth open. No one had the audacity to insult him like that except for Bulma. Growling, he lashed out at her. "For the record, though you might be the most recent female I've had relations with, it hasn't been ten years since I indulged!"

Bulma just looked at him in shock. That wasn't the reaction she had intended to get out of him. Before she knew it, her anger suddenly vanished as she looked at Vegeta's angry and somewhat embarrassed stance. Letting out a giggle, she flopped back into the chair. "Oh really Vegeta? You couldn't fool me last night." This only seemed to make Vegeta even more uncomfortable. Smirking inwardly, she thought it was funny that the unflappable Saiyan Prince suffered from the same sort of egotism that affected other males. Apparently, he was embarrassed that she would rate his love making skills with that of a virgin, or someone who couldn't get laid even if they tried, though she really couldn't remember how skilled he was from last night anyway.

"Enough of this Woman!" Vegeta yelled as he threw his hands up in the air in frustration. He could hear everything she was thinking in her mind and he could only endure so much humiliation. Deciding it was probably best to move on before it got too late even though Bulma hadn't come around to his way of thinking in terms of their relationship, Vegeta ran his hands through his still damp hair. He could come back to their argument at a later date. Looking at the clock, he realized it was getting late and if he wanted to get started on training her, although he wasn't looking forward to the prospect, they had better get moving before he fell asleep where he was standing. Unlike Bulma, he'd been awake since the crack of dawn training in the GR, only taking breaks to come inside the house to eat. Walking over to the spot on the floor where he sometimes meditated, he seated himself cross-legged, motioning for Bulma to join him. Looking at her uncertain demeanor, he rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Well, are you planning on getting any training in tonight or are you going to sit in that chair and stare into space? You're the one who said they had better things to do, so get over here if you intend on learning the art of blocking your thoughts."

Watching Bulma, he was satisfied when she got out of his chair and sat cross-legged

across from him. Leaning forward, he grabbed Bulma's hands in his own, feeling how soft they were in his own callused grip. Swallowing down the accompanying wave of desire that followed, he closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on exactly how he was going to teach her any sort of telepathic trick without inadvertently becoming too physical with her. It was just like down in the kitchen where it had been almost too easy to get distracted, except for here in his room there was no chance that they would be interrupted. Besides that, being so intimately connected with Bulma, he had a feeling that this training process was going to be tantamount to egging on the attraction and desire the two of them already shared. It was going to be bloody difficult to stay forward with his determination to not allow Bulma into his life anymore than he already had.

"Alright Woman, listen carefully. Closing off your thoughts to another is all a matter of control. You have to become aware at every minute what it is that you are thinking and you then have to make a conscious effort to block that thought from going anywhere besides within your own mind. Besides being able to control where your thoughts stray, you will also have the added benefit of being able to erect a wall that will make it difficult for any other telepath who is stronger than you to infiltrate your thoughts. This is a serious matter, so I will not take your foolish behavior with a grain of salt. If you don't pay attention and make a very clear effort on your part, I will wash my hands of this training. Is that clear?" Vegeta said, still holding tightly onto Bulma's hands.

Bulma hadn't really been paying attention. She was caught up in being so near to Vegeta and the fact that they were holding hands. It felt almost romantic and giddiness she hadn't felt since she was in middle school with her first crush suddenly washed over her body. Unfortunately for her, her thoughts were being broadcast loud and clear to Vegeta, who was getting the impression that any effort he made on his part to train Bulma would be a waste of time. She hadn't realized that she was mooning over Vegeta until she felt her body shake from Vegeta pulling on her arms to bring her back to reality. Feeling ridiculous, Bulma lowered her eyes slightly. "Uh, sorry Vegeta. What were you saying?" She wanted to slap herself for being such an airhead on her first lesson with Vegeta as her teacher. Looking over at him, she could tell he was frustrated, hearing him audibly growl and grind his teeth simultaneously in irritation.

"Forget it! I'm not going to repeat myself since you obviously didn't take the time to absorb the information I just offered you, too caught up in your own silly thoughts about foolish romantic feelings. This is not intended to be romantic! I'm only holding your hands because it will be easier for you to make a conscious connection with my mind. But if you continue to behave in this silly manner, you can forget about the added help. If it wasn't for the fact that this training is necessary for my own sanity, I'd wash my hands of it this instant!"

Feeling herself beginning to grow angry, Bulma tried to pull out of his strong grip. "Look Vegeta, I said I was sorry. If you don't want to train me tonight, I'll just leave you alone so you can be first rate jerk in private."

"Oh no you don't Woman! You're the one who came here for the specific purpose of gaining thought control lessons and you aren't leaving until I feel you've made a satisfactory effort at learning some control." With that, he relaxed his grip, pulling Bulma off center. Watching her as she relaxed a small amount, Vegeta continued on with the lesson. In all honesty, he wasn't exactly sure how to proceed. His own thought control lessons had been self-guided out of necessity while he worked for Frieza. Besides that, with his natural telepathic ability and the fact that he liked to be in control at all times, it had been relatively easy for him to pick it up. He didn't think that Bulma was going to have an easy job at it and he didn't think he was going to have an easy time keeping his own thoughts and attraction at bay either. Letting out a sigh of inevitability, Vegeta opened up a telepathic connection with his mind. Since it was an exercise involving telepathy, he decided to conduct the lesson from here on out between their minds. And on top of that, at least this time, she wouldn't be able to ignore his instructions unless she somehow learned to block his thoughts from entering her mind, something he had a hard time believing she would ever get the hang of since it was something he himself struggled with.

"_The first thing you are going to work on is how to concentrate on what you are thinking without becoming distracted, something I have a feeling you'll have a hard time grasping."_

Bulma jerked back slightly at the invasion of her mind by Vegeta. It was something she still hadn't gotten used to. "Look Vegeta, I can…" She didn't get a chance to finish before her statement was interrupted.

"_You just proved my point Woman. Now listen up. Think of something important to you. I don't care what it is. Your task is to continue to think about it no matter what else happens to pop into your mind, is that clear? Shake your head yes if it is." _He watched in relief as she did as he asked. _"Have you decided on what it you are going to think about?"_ He already knew the answer because she had broadcast it loud and clear to him. Smirking in amusement, he was interested in how long she would last. He made a bet with himself that it would probably only be less then a second.

Bulma readied herself. She didn't really have a clue what Vegeta had in store for her, but she picked something that she could definitely keep her concentration about. Picturing the schematics of her energy device, she tried to concentrate on the glitch in the design that was causing her no end of frustration. Nodding her head that she was ready, she started to methodically work out the problem in her mind, something she did on a regular basis.

Vegeta watched as Bulma closed her eyes in concentration, feeling her mind beginning to concentrate and work out the problem she had selected for her concentration exercise. Letting her work on it for about a minute, Vegeta figured out what he was going to use to distract her.

Working on her problem, Bulma suddenly saw a very erotic image of a very naked Vegeta in her bed. Before she could stop herself, she blushed and felt her own body begin to respond. She was still trying to recover her equilibrium when she heard Vegeta's voice inside her head gloating.

"_Ha Woman! Is that all the better you can do? You didn't even last one second before you got distracted!"_

Snapping her eyes open, she glared at Vegeta who was still holding tightly onto her hands, gazing at her with a mixture of arrogance and amusement in his dark eyes.

"Vegeta, that wasn't fair! You picked that on purpose. How was I supposed to react to an image like that, you pervert?"

"Ah, ah, ah! I never said I was going to play fair did I _Bulma_?" Vegeta said, putting emphasis on her name. "In the real world, if someone with telepathic ability wants to mess with your mind, they aren't going to play fair either. So the best way to learn control is by being exposed to all the nuances that telepathy is filled with. Now close your eyes and begin again."

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Bulma did exactly that, centering her mind back onto her problem. This time she was going to prove him wrong, that she could last longer than he thought she was capable of. She had almost found a possible solution to her problem when an image of Muffin being cut into tiny pieces by a ki blast pushed into her mind. This time, she was more ready than before and she managed to stay on task perhaps a millisecond longer than before, but the image was so horrible, her concentration collapsed, even though she knew it wasn't real.

Opening her eyes, she became angry when she saw Vegeta smirking nastily at her. "That is it Vegeta! I refuse to do this training with you anymore if you're just going to try and torture me."

Frowning at Bulma, he didn't see it that way. Okay, so perhaps letting her see what he wanted to do to her obnoxious dog was a bit much, but he had had to deal with a lot worse things then watching a dog be sent to oblivion. Hardening his resolve, he refused to let go of Bulma's hands. Besides which, he liked the way they felt and he wasn't about to let her go until he was sure that they had made some progress.

"I don't care if you don't like my training methods. Like I said before, anything goes with telepathy. The better you are at sorting out what's real and what's not, the better off you will be. I know what I'm talking about." Vegeta said, almost a bit harshly to his mate. Switching over to telepathy, he again opened up his mind to Bulma's. _"Now try again. You did a little bit better, but it wasn't enough to count."_

With that, Bulma closed her eyes tightly again, trying to gain control of her anger and the other feelings she was having. This mind control training wasn't nearly as exciting as she thought it would be. And being taught by Vegeta, she should have known he wasn't going to go easy on her or be nice about it. Getting her mind back on her problem, she let part of her thoughts ready themselves for the inevitable onslaught from Vegeta.

Again, she was tantalizingly close to solving her problem when Vegeta pushed another image into her mind. This time though, Bulma steadfastly tried to ignore it even though it was very difficult. Instead of letting it come into her train of thought as a visual image, she sort of pushed it to the side by not letting it resolve into a picture, concentrating on her task. But it was very difficult for her to do. She could feel herself begin so sweat in exertion and it took every ounce of control she had not to cave in and become distracted by whatever it was he had pushed into her mind. Unfortunately for Bulma, Vegeta was determined to win, somehow turning her training into a battle of wills between the two of them. Pushing the thought more adamantly into Bulma's mind, he was impressed by how well she was doing, convinced it should have taken her a few weeks to come this far, not a few tries. Before he knew it he had swept himself along with Bulma into the trap he had unintentionally set for her.

Bulma was thinking proud thoughts of how well she was doing, but she realized this task wasn't getting any easier. In fact, it seemed to be getting more difficult by the moment. She was about to give up and call it a night when the image that had been at the back of her mind suddenly swept into full view, being pushed along inside her mind by a very determined Vegeta who was going to make sure he won this round, even though that had not been his original intention.

If she had thought the first image of Vegeta in her bed had been embarrassing and thrilling at the same time, this one took the cake. Not being able to control her thoughts anymore, she opened her eyes before she got carried away with the image in her brain. Opening her eyes, she glanced into Vegeta's again, slightly surprised to see that he wasn't unaffected by what he had shoved into her brain. She also realized that he was unknowingly caressing her hands, suddenly giving her the insight to realize that whatever he said about last night being a one time deal, Vegeta was altogether unsure about how he wanted their relationship to progress.

Letting him continue to watch her and rub her hands with his thumbs, Bulma spoke up. "Vegeta, I don't care what you say, you cheated. I was doing pretty good until you all but forced that image into my head, making sure it was a doozy to catch me off guard." She blushed thinking exactly how X-rated that image had been.

"Huh, now who's the one who hasn't had any experience." Vegeta offered Bulma somewhat condescendingly.

"That's what you think Vegeta! Anyway, I think we're done for the night, seeing as you can't keep your mind out of the gutter." Bulma said as she sat in front of Vegeta, waiting for him to let her go. Becoming exasperated and aroused at the same time by his methodical pursual of her hands, Bulma again tried to pull her hands out of his grip. Annoyed when he showed no intention of letting go, Bulma felt like whacking him across his pointy haired head. Here he was telling her that last night was basically a one night stand, and now he wouldn't let her go and he had that look across his face that she had become very familiar with over the last few months. It was his face that broadcasted loud and clear what he wanted with her. "Come on Vegeta. Let's just call an end to this lesson. It's late and I know you've been up since some ungodly hour yesterday morning." Still trying to push her way out of his grasp, she almost screamed when he yanked her over onto his lap.

"Vegeta!" Bulma sputtered out as she found herself sitting on top of Vegeta. What the hell was he thinking? "Come on! You're being…you're being…Well, I don't know what you're being but it's something repulsive!"

"Come now Woman, you expect me to believe that line of garbage? Who's the one whose thoughts have kept coming back to something like this happening since they woke up this afternoon, hmm?" With that, he pushed Bulma's hair out of the way and touched her scabbed over bond mark, watching as she involuntarily shivered from the touch. What was he getting himself into? He never went back on his word but now he was in the process of doing something he'd been trying to avoid unsuccessfully all day after he'd told Bulma that they would never have a repeat of last night. Still, he almost felt like he couldn't help it. She was attractive, she was for the most part willing, she was the most responsive woman he'd ever had sexual relations with, and they were mates. Thinking the same train of thought he had had in the kitchen, he stroked her bond mark knowing full well that it would act like an aphrodisiac. Besides which, although she was trying to hide it, Bulma had been thinking similar thoughts all day and she had wanted for this to happen. Why not cave in this one time when he was fully in his right mind for the most part? What real harm would there be?

Bulma looked up at Vegeta hesitantly, putting her hand on his bare chest to steady herself as she sat on his lap, growing in awareness of just how intent Vegeta was on having her. "Well, I guess I can't really deny that. Stupid bond." She shivered slightly as Vegeta kept touching the disgusting looking wound on her neck. "Just so we are clear on something though Vegeta."

"And what would that be Woman?"

"You can't expect me to just act like this is all a farce. I can't be that way. Things don't have to change that much between us. I won't even tell my parents if you don't want, although I'm pretty sure my Mom at least has an inkling of the attraction between the two of us. But don't expect to continue sharing a bed with me if you aren't going act like we're married or whatever we are. That's just too hard Vegeta."

Smirking slightly, he agreed with her one hundred percent. That was why after tonight, he would redouble his efforts not to be swayed in having relations with her or anything else. Making a mental note to himself to refrain from using sexual imagery in their mind control training, Vegeta nodded his head. "Agreed." Was all he said to her.

Bulma was surprised. "Really Vegeta, you mean it?"

"Of course baka! I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. I'm a man of honor." Well, he conceded, for the most part he was. Bending slightly forward, he touched his nose to hers, rubbing it against hers ever so slightly in Saiyan fashion. Growling a bit, he nipped the tip of her nose, chuckling under his breath when Bulma let out a squeak of pain.

"And no biting me Vegeta! You've done enough damage to my beautiful skin with those horrible fangs of yours! I'm going to be scarred for life. No super modeling career for me!"

Vegeta just rolled his eyes over her dramatics. Leaning back slightly, he addressed her concerns. "Well Woman, it was necessary to complete the bonding process. You did the same to me." He said as he pulled back a small amount, pointing to his neck. "Besides, it's the Saiyan way and since you're bonded to me, you had better get used to it."

"Well, if I have to get used to the Saiyan way of doing things, then you're just going to have to get used to the human way of doing things, so there!"

"Are you offering to show me? If you make it worth my while, I might reconsider."

Bulma blushed at his insinuation. "Sure, I guess Vegeta. Why not?" With that, she leaned forward onto his chest, kissing him lightly on the mouth, not all surprised when he tightened his grip on her and responded somewhat enthusiastically, if a bit roughly. Suddenly pulling away from Vegeta's mouth, Bulma grinned at him. "Hey, I have an idea! Now that I know you're the biggest pervert this side of the Milky Way, maybe we can, you know, do what you showed me in that image you shoved into my brain."

Pulling Bulma back down on top of him, Vegeta absently stroked her soft blue hair before answering her inquiry. Touching his mouth to hers again, he twined his thoughts with hers, feeding into their bond. _"Why, you haven't experienced the like? I suppose I can be obliging. Just don't whine to me if you're in a great deal of pain tomorrow morning." _With that, he flipped Bulma over so that he was on top, giving in one last time, not really caring what the consequences were going to be tomorrow morning. He still had the next day to stick with his resolution. And if everything worked out accordingly, his life would finally be on the right track, even with this little disruption.

_Well, the burning question will be if Vegeta keeps up with is resolution. And what happens to the Saiyan Prince when other roadblocks that he didn't foresee suddenly come to light? Find out in the next chapter! And as always, please R&R!_

_P.S. If you can tell me the movie I got the line about Vegeta folding his underwear out of, I'll give you a cookie! (Well, not a real one anyway!) _


	19. Chapter 19

_Okay guys, I'm not too sure about the timeline and all. I think I mentioned somewhere earlier in my story that it was about two years before the Androids are slated to make an appearance, but my story is so long, I can't seem to find where I put it. So basically, it's now about one year and 4 months before they come around (I think). Hopefully the way I have it set up will make sense with the original timeline. I hope:)_

_Thanks again to Bulma and Vegeta fan, Karma7K, Headless-Whore, Cappuccino Penguin, Chazie, SuperMaz, eurofighter,and Hatake Umino Nezumi for reviewing. You guys are what help keep me writing this story. Hope this chappie meets with your approval._

_Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ_

_Chapter 19_

Bulma stared at the Gravity Room in exasperation, her handy tool kit in hand. She'd gotten over her initial uncertainty about her relationship with Vegeta, only coming to the conclusion that since their fateful night together a few months ago, he was even more of a bastard then she had previously thought. Maybe it was the fact that he made absolutely no effort to be personable. At least with Yamcha, he had told her sweet nothings and had made some effort to be romantic, taking her out to restaurants and buying her chocolates and flowers when he had been neglectful. But Vegeta? For all that they were supposedly married according to Saiyan tradition as far as she could tell, he'd gotten considerably colder towards her since the first night he'd tried teaching her thought control. Being the inquisitive woman that she was, she couldn't figure out why. Part of her wanted to blame it on herself, but that line of thinking wasn't going to get her anywhere and besides, Vegeta would respect her less if she acted mopey and self-centered about their relationship.

Pushing her self-doubt to the back of her mind, she tried to concentrate on centering her thoughts in her own head so Vegeta wouldn't know what she was thinking. But the truth was, she really hadn't grasped the whole mind control technique yet and when they did have lessons, which had become less and less frequent the more Vegeta holed himself inside the Gravity Room, they always ended up getting sidetracked by…other things. She had officially been Vegeta's mate for the last four, almost five months now and at least in one respect, they were something to each other. But it only extended as far as the bedroom, which frustrated and infuriated Bulma to no end. He didn't even really badger her or manipulate her into giving him what he wanted that much anymore and they hardly ever argued with one another mostly because Vegeta made himself unavailable, training from dusk until dawn. Setting her tool kit down, Bulma rubbed her arms slowly trying to figure out what exactly had gone wrong before things had even started between the two of them. Part of it, she realized, was the fact that even though Vegeta really didn't treat her like a wife or girlfriend, Bulma hadn't stayed true to her word about not letting Vegeta share her bed. She was a pushover just like she had been with Yamcha: letting passion rule her judgment and her good sense. However, unlike Yamcha, whatever was between her and Vegeta was permanent. She was stuck with him for life and the longer they were bonded together, the more she could physically feel her ties to him. It was just so unfair that she was willing to give so much of herself to men that never fully appreciated who or what she was. And she was tired of it.

Picking up her tool kit again, she approached the looming Gravity Room, which was currently running. Marching up to the door of the Capsule, Bulma punched in her code to turn on the communication link, waiting for Vegeta to respond to it. Tapping her foot impatiently, she only had to wait a few seconds before the screen turned on and she saw Vegeta's sweaty face glaring at her.

"What?" Vegeta yelled tersely into the damn communication link, watching as Bulma's features began to contort in anger.

"Don't you yell at me Vegeta! Who's the one who just minutes ago, called the front desk threatening to blast them if they didn't send a repair person right away to fix your precious Gravity Room? Well, I'm here, your Princliness, so open up!"

"Woman, I asked for them to send a repair person, not you. So you can walk away and find someone else who can fix this blasted machine and you will do it now!"

Dropping her tools, Bulma crossed her arms in anger. Who did he think he was telling her to go and get someone else to fix the stupid contraption? "No way Vegeta. I got called away from my desk, I put my tool kit together and walked all the way out here to fix it and I am _not_ leaving until it's done. Besides, all the technicians that might be able to fix it are too terrified of you to want to come out here and on top of all that, since I helped my dad design it for you, I know it like the back of my hand. You're just being a coward."

Vegeta felt his temper beginning to flare. It was already thin enough as it was especially seeing as no matter how much he pushed himself he couldn't get Bulma out of his system and he was no closer to reaching Super Saiyan then he was before all of his troubles had started with her almost eight months before. And no one called the Prince of all Saiyans a coward unless they had a death wish.

"What did you just call me Woman?"

"I called you a coward. You're just using that stupid Gravity Room as a shield from admitting you like me." God, what had possessed her to say that? Still, she had a feeling it was true, especially seeing as he couldn't keep his hands off of her when they were in private together.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Vegeta decided to ignore her last comment, not wanting to admit to its validity. Deciding it was better to let Bulma have her way and fix the damned machine, knowing full well she was going to distract him with her very presence, he turned the gravity back to normal and opened the door. Watching Bulma darkly as she entered his sacred domain, he moved over to the wall and tried to give her his most intimidating look.

Seeing how tense and angry Vegeta was, Bulma tried to ignore the hurt that had become a permanent resident inside of her heart. Sometimes, she felt like her heart was breaking in two and it was very difficult for her to keep up the façade that his attitude towards her didn't matter in the least. When had things become so difficult, she wanted to ask herself? In the past, it had been so easy for her to relegate his unfair treatment of her to an imaginary place where she didn't have to deal with the reality of her feelings. But now, the hurt she felt was like a raw open wound in which someone was continually rubbing salt into and she really didn't know how much more pretending she could do without breaking down into a sobbing mess at his feet. She just couldn't allow herself to end up like that, especially in front of him. Besides, he had to know how she was feeling since they were so connected and in tune with one another's feelings. It just went to prove to Bulma that Vegeta really hadn't been lying when he said he didn't have a heart and that he didn't care. Letting out a huff of frustration, she looked over again at where Vegeta was standing as still as a statue and about as warm as piece of ice.

"Well your Highness, are you going to tell me what's wrong so I can fix it, or are you going to pretend I can read your mind? Let's get to it. I've got other work I should be doing instead of coming out here to baby-sit you and this stupid machine."

Deciding it was best to ignore Bulma's sour attitude and the palpable hurt that was flowing towards his conscious connection with her, Vegeta jerked his head to the control panel.

"The switch to turn the damn thing on and off is stuck. I had to resort to performing a manual override to turn it on this morning."

"And you couldn't fix it even though you're more than capable of performing an override? Men! They make the women do all of the work." With that, Bulma went over to the switch noting that it was indeed stuck. Not only that, it looked like someone had been angry about something and decided to take it out on the button. Looking at the state of the device, Bulma had a fairly good inclination about what must have happened. Vegeta had probably been in a bad frame of mind this morning when he came into train and he probably had vented his frustration into the tiny button, breaking it in the process. Bending over, she started to dig around in her tool kit for a spare switch. Thankfully, this was only a minor repair and she would be out of Vegeta's hidey-hole in a manner of minutes. Finding what she was looking for, she locked and tagged the machine, cutting all power to the control panel. She then opened the cover, removed the broken switch, installed the new one, slammed the cover back down and redirected the power. Wiping her hands on her pants, she picked up her took kit and made her way to the door. Upon reaching the exit, she turned so she was facing Vegeta, who hadn't moved a muscle since she had started her repairs.

"There. It's finished Vegeta. And next time you're pissed off about something, pound it into one of the attack bots and not the switch." All she got for her efforts at starting an argument was a grunt of acknowledgment. Stiffening up her back, she pushed the button to open the exit and slowly walked out, frustrated and miffed at both herself and Vegeta. Stalking down the ramp, she heard the door slam shut and the familiar hum of the machine as Vegeta once again resumed his never-ending training regime. What did it really matter that he was such a stick in the mud? Walking towards the house, she knew she was just lying to herself. It did matter what he thought of her and how he treated her but she had no idea how she was ever going to get him to see that. Pushing the door to the kitchen open, she wasn't surprised to see her mother busily making something. What did surprise her was the amount of food that was spread across the kitchen table. Tossing her took kit to the other side of the door, Bulma walked in and flopped herself down into the nearest available chair, feeling tiredness wash over her limbs. Lately, at least for the last month or so, she had been feeling more lethargic than usual, but she had relegated it to the fact that she was depressed. Still, it was unusual for her to feel like all of her energy was being zapped out of her body and she was seriously considering going to the doctor's to figure out what exactly was the matter with her internal workings. Coming to the conclusion she didn't want to wallow around in self-pity anymore, Bulma decided to find out what her crazy mother was up to.

"Hey Mom, what's with all the food? I know Vegeta eats a lot but you don't usually go this overboard for him."

Turning around to look at her daughter, Mrs. Briefs gave Bulma the widest smile she could even though she felt like it was all a pretense. Her daughter and Vegeta were just not getting things accomplished the way they were supposed to be and it was very obvious to her that the two of them were suffering, albeit in very different ways. Still, it bothered her a great deal that since Vegeta had returned, even though Bulma's physical appearance had improved dramatically, her spirits certainly had not. At first, her daughter had seemed happy, but as the months went by and Vegeta taxed his strength to the limit while simultaneously ignoring her beloved daughter, Bulma's mood had turned despondent. It was so obvious to her that the two of them where at least somewhat in love with each other but she just didn't know what she could do to move the situation along. Pushing the kabobs she had just finished skewering out of the way, she wiped her hands on a towel before answering Bulma's query.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just preparing the food for the barbecue you invited all your friends over for this afternoon."

Looking at her mother, Bulma slapped herself in the forehead, feeling extremely foolish about forgetting. "Its today, Mom? Oh God, I'm sorry I didn't help you out more. I totally forgot. I've been such a bonehead lately." How could she have forgotten? She hadn't seen any of her friends in a while so she had decided to invite all of the Z-senshi over to celebrate for no particular reason, but her mind had been so preoccupied for the last month or so that it had completely slipped past her. Thanking Kami that her mother was at least on top of things when it came to entertainment, she stood up as fast as her exhausted body would let her, deciding to make it up to her mother by helping with what was left.

"Hey Mom, let me help you with those kabobs, will you?" Bulma asked as she tied an apron around her waist and pushed up her sleeves. At least she knew with the kabobs, she wouldn't screw them up.

Watching her daughter who looked about ready to collapse on her feet, Mrs. Briefs carefully took her hand and walked her back to the table where she had been seated previously. "Bulma, sweetie, I've got everything under control. Don't you worry your little head off. I know you've been busy and things haven't been quite normal around here for you lately." Turning around, she fixed Bulma a glass of lemonade and handed it over to her. "Why don't you drink this and then go lie down? You look like you could use a good rest."

Taking a sip of the sweet and tart drink, Bulma let out a sigh. Was she really that pathetic that her mother had to tell her to take a nap? Still, she could use a good rest especially if she was going to be entertaining all of her friends this afternoon. "Sorry Mom. You know, I thought things were going to get better once Vegeta came back but I should have guessed that with a guy like him, things never turn out the way they are supposed to." Closing her eyes slightly, she opened them to see her mother's confused expression. Shit! Bulma wanted to slap herself again in the head. Her mother had no idea that her condition previously had been tied to Vegeta and their bonding ordeal. Now she had just opened up a whole can of worms, even though she was fairly positive her mother knew that both she and Vegeta had been sharing each other's bedrooms frequently since he had come back from the mountains.

"Bulma, honey, I don't mean to pry, but is there anything you'd like to tell me about you and our houseguest? It's just that you haven't been yourself in so long and I'm worried about you. If you want me to go haul that boy in by his oversized ears so that you can kick him in the crotch for being such a ding bat, I will gladly do so."

Feeling her eyes widen in shock, Bulma bit back a gasp. Her mother honestly looked like she was prepared to go into the Gravity Room and haul Vegeta's body out of it by the scruff of his neck. Mrs. Briefs was usually so good natured, it was hard to believe that she would actually do something like that, but here she was, prepared and ready to go in for a fight. Bulma felt honored and ashamed at the same time: ashamed because she had been too embarrassed to admit to her mother how much of a fool she had become over Vegeta.

"Uh, that's okay Mom. I'm more than capable of handling myself around Prince Dickwad. Don't worry about it. Vegeta's an ass and I've been fooling myself thinking that he'll ever get past being one." With that, she took the final swig of her lemonade, setting the empty glass down with a clink. Standing up sluggishly, she felt her stomach start to burn, another affliction that had been bothering her recently as well. Ignoring the annoying sensation, she went over and gave her mother a hug before turning around to leave for her bedroom. "I guess I will go and take that nap. Dad doesn't really need me around the lab and I want to feel refreshed and perky when everybody shows up. And thanks again for making all the food Mom. You're the greatest." With that, she headed out the door to her room.

Letting out a sigh of disappointment that Bulma wouldn't confide in her what was bothering her so much lately, Mrs. Briefs turned back to her cooking, opening up one of the ovens to check on the cake she was baking. She didn't know what she could do to help Bulma, and Vegeta, no matter how handsome and muscular he was, would definitely not appreciate her meddling. It just went contrary to her beliefs how two people who were so similar to one anther could still be so obstinate when it came to admitting that there were some things you couldn't control in life, and one of them was who you ended up with as a partner. Look at herself and Dr. Briefs. Yes, he was certainly an intelligent and accomplished man, but he had been the last sort of man she had ever contemplated marrying. Yet for some reason, the two of them had found each other out of the endless sea of possibilities, finding that they were compatible. She loved him and he loved her and out of their unusual union they had produced Bulma, a miracle in and of itself. If only her daughter would just manage to get their proud houseguest to quit being so stubborn when it came to matters of the heart. Looking out at the Gravity Room, Mrs. Briefs felt herself beginning to feel a touch of melancholy. Shaking her head, she concentrated on the ever-important task of assembling enough food to satisfy the hungriest of Earth's Special Forces, making sure there would be enough food to go around for everybody.

_Later that afternoon…_

Bulma leaned over the counter in her bathroom, applying the finishing touches to her mascara. Looking at her reflection with a satisfied smile, she threw the tube of mascara on top of the pile composed of her makeup that was currently spread across the sink area. She had taken a very long nap and she felt somewhat refreshed, but not entirely. Wondering if she had come down with mononucleosis, she put her hand to her forehead, not really surprised that it felt normal. She had come to the decision today that she was going have to see her physician, no matter how much she detested making visits to the doctor's office. Before she had collapsed on her bed, she had made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon and hopefully, her lack of energy and her constant bouts of flu-like symptoms would be critically diagnosed. Being ill was the pits and she hated feeling under the weather. And if these symptoms were psychosomatic, maybe they could put her on some sort of anti-depressant. Deciding that she didn't want to dwell on any more negative thoughts before she had to greet her friends who she hadn't seen in God knew how long, Bulma made an exit from the bathroom, ignoring the dull ache in her stomach that never seemed to go away.

Seeing Muffin knawing on the rawhide chew toy she had given him earlier that day, she called out his name for him to follow her. Carefully walking downstairs, she and her dog followed the tantalizing aroma of vegetables and meat being grilled outdoors. Walking outside to the patio area, which unfortunately faced the ever-running Gravity Room, Bulma slid the patio door open and made her way outside, Muffin following close on her heels. She was pleased to see that Chi-Chi, Goku and Gohan were already present, and looking to the side, she saw Piccolo sitting with his arms crossed across from his once sworn enemy.

"Hey guys! Glad you could make it! It's been a while. How have things been going for you, you know, training wise?" Looking over at Chi-Chi, Bulma immediately regretted asking that particular question.

Chi-Chi glared at Bulma for bringing up such an uncomfortable subject. She didn't like being reminded of the fact that in less then two years, her family was once again going to be at the front lines fighting against an extremely strong opponent for the good of mankind. Noticing the deadly look she was getting from the younger woman, Bulma blushed slightly. She was about to change the subject when Goku spoke up, wiping away the drool that was currently hanging from his mouth as he took in the scents of the food Mrs. Briefs was barbecuing.

"Ah, training's going great Bulma, isn't it Gohan?" Goku said as he looked over to his son fondly. Gohan nodded his head enthusiastically. Seeing that Chi-Chi looked like she was about to explode, Goku wisely decided to redirect the conversation, swallowing nervously. "And, uh, Gohan's been doing really great at his studies, hasn't he Chi-Chi?" He watched in relief as his wife suddenly smiled brilliantly and began talking in earnest to Bulma about what a genius her son was. Wiping the sweat off of his brow, he decided to take a good look at Bulma. It had been quite a few months since he'd rescued Vegeta in the mountains, if you could consider it that, and he was relieved to see that Bulma's thin appearance had filled out considerably. But he noticed that although she seemed to be interested in speaking with Chi-Chi, she still lacked the vigor the Bulma he knew possessed. He also didn't miss the fact that whether she realized it or not, she was continually glancing at the Gravity Room which he knew contained the ever training form of his Prince. 'So, something must have happened between the two of them. I'm just going to have to see how lovey Vegeta has become.' Goku thought to himself, suddenly sporting a goofy grin that didn't go unnoticed by anyone.

"Uh, Goku, what's so amusing?" Bulma asked as she looked at her sappily smiling friend. He almost looked creepy with that vacant, fakey smile plastered across his face.

Snapping out of his foolish reverie, Goku blushed profusely and scratched the back of his head, earning a glower from Piccolo and an amused smirk from both his wife and Bulma. "Um, nothing guys. I was just thinking about all the great food your mom is making Bulma." Seeing that everyone nodded their heads in acceptance of his excuse for his lackadaisical behavior, Goku let out a little sigh of relief. Looking at Bulma, he decided to ask her about Vegeta to maybe get an idea on how their relationship was progressing before he got to lay eyes on Vegeta. "How's Vegeta doing Bulma? I haven't seen him around for a while."

Bulma let out a little smile and put on a fake smile to appease Goku's curiosity. After all, she had practically begged the guy to bring Vegeta back home so it wasn't unfounded that he would wonder about him. "Well, Vegeta's Vegeta. All he does is train, eat, train, eat and then train some more. Honestly, I'm surprised he hasn't attained what he wants to attain considering he's constantly beating himself up to a pulp day after day after day." Leaning back in her chair, she took a sip of the water that was out on the patio table, hoping it would calm down her ill feeling stomach.

"Well, that sounds like Vegeta." Looking over at where Bulma was seated, Goku moved in his chair a bit closer and lowered his voice. "And how are things between the two of you?" He all but knew that Vegeta was attracted to Bulma, especially since Vegeta had almost tried to kill him over an imagined threat to his future mate and Goku really couldn't contain his curiosity.

Bulma looked over in surprise at Goku. She always assumed he was this naïve little kid at heart, incapable of understanding deeper feelings between two people, so she was slightly amazed that he had inferred as much as he had about their relationship. Still, what did she expect? He wasn't really a stupid person, contrary to what most people, even herself on occasion, believed. Besides that, begging him to bring Vegeta back must have triggered some notion of understanding of what was going on between the two of them. She was about to give him a slightly truthful answer when she noticed Chi-Chi watching them with a shrewd look in her eyes. Before she had a chance to respond, Chi-Chi interrupted their little conversation.

"So you're the mystery woman, aren't you?" Chi-Chi demanded. It hadn't taken her long to figure it out after Goku tried to talk in a whisper, asking Bulma things about Vegeta as though it were some big secret. Besides that, it was completely shocking. Bulma and Vegeta? They made the most unlikely couple in her opinion and to top it all of, Chi-Chi was still unaware of the fact that Bulma had broken up with Yamcha. Turning to Goku, she leveled him a dirty look. "How could you assist that disgusting villain in his attempts to break up a perfectly wonderful relationship? And you brought him to our house, no less? What were you thinking?" Turning around, she faced Bulma. "And you, enlisting the aid of my husband to help you cheat on Yamcha! You should be ashamed of yourself!" Ignoring Goku's frantic attempts at motioning her to shut her mouth, she continued on with her self-righteous speech, also ignoring the embarrassed looks coming from her son and Piccolo. "I mean Yamcha…" Chi-Chi abruptly stopped when the man himself walked in with Krillin, Tien, Choutzu, Master Roshi, Puar, and Oolong.

Looking confused, Yamcha spoke up. "Yamcha what Chi-Chi? What's everybody talking about?" he asked, noting where Bulma was seated next to Goku, feeling an unnatural jealousy spark up.

Looking over at Yamcha, Bulma decided to get it over with. Honestly, she was surprised that the entire Z-Squad didn't know about her break up with Yamcha, especially seeing as she had gone on that terrible date with Krillin before her whole situation with Vegeta had arisen.

"She was just saying how shocked she was to find out that you and I broke up and that there won't be any wedding bells ringing in the near future, that's all." This, of course, was greeted by stunned silence and then a barrage of questions for both Bulma and Yamcha about how long they had been broken apart. Feeling a headache coming on and a sudden deep regret for inviting her nosy but well meaning friends over, Bulma glanced over at Yamcha, relieved when he nodded his head for her to answer the questions.

"We broke up a while ago. Close to eight months ago, actually. We just decided that even though we are friends, we're just not compatible as boyfriend and girlfriend, right Yamcha?" Yamcha just nodded his head glumly. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that Bulma had dumped him and then kicked him out of her house, especially since it had been Vegeta who had done the kicking. In his mind, it was a burning humiliation and even though he realized it was futile, he wanted to win Bulma back and punch that rotten, no good dirty Saiyan in the kisser. Seating himself with a huff, he noticed that one person was conspicuously absent.

"So Bulma, where _is_ Vegeta? I mean, the guy lives here doesn't he?"

Seeing the sneer on Yamcha's face, Bulma felt her anger start to rise. How dare he come to her house and act like a total jerk? She knew they hadn't talked to one another since the breakup but her mind had been so preoccupied with other things. Besides that, she knew that talking to him would be futile because he would just demand for another chance.

"Look Yamcha, Vegeta does live here but I am not his keeper. Since you're so concerned about his presence or lack there of, he's in the Gravity Room where he always is at this time of the day." Unbeknownst to Bulma, Vegeta was no longer in the Gravity Room. In fact, he was standing directly behind her with a look that could be only described as furious across his chiseled features.

He had already been in a foul mood to start with, beginning this morning when he had to train and he had accidentally jammed the switch to his machine. On top of that, Bulma had come over to fix it when he had been intent on ignoring her all day and now, the whole damned blasted Z-bakas were here cluttering up his (and he supposed the Briefs's) patio. On top of that, Bulma's ex-mate was standing across from her and Vegeta felt for the first time in months his instincts rise up, proclaiming Yamcha as a rival even though he knew it was completely irrational for him to feel that sort of seething rage and jealousy.

"Woman, what the hell are all these people doing here?" Vegeta roared into Bulma's ear, causing her to jump in her seat from the surprise. Turning around, she leveled an icy stare at him, earning a few gulps from the suddenly nervous Z-Squad. Vegeta scared most of them with the exception of Goku and Piccolo and they were suddenly afraid that he was going to blast the patio and everyone in it if Bulma decided to indulge in an argument, which it looked like she had every intention of doing.

Glaring angrily at Vegeta, Bulma suddenly stood up. He was so goddamned rude, it wasn't even funny and she was not going to put up with it. Motioning for him to follow, she walked a fair distance away from the patio so that hopefully, the conversation that was about to follow wouldn't be overheard to closely. Turning around, she faced him, her icy blue orbs drilling invisible holes into his armor.

"God Vegeta, would it harm you to act a little bit sociable once in a while? These are my friends and this is my house. I don't care if you don't particularly like any of them, but I will not put up with you acting like a spoiled brat in front of them." She watched as Vegeta's fury suddenly mounted and a dangerous look entered into his eyes. Warily, she backed away from him.

"Don't you dare presume to tell me how to act Woman. You don't know me and you don't know what I am capable of at the moment." He growled out menacingly, taking a step nearer to where she had backed off. He hadn't felt this level of anger in a long while and it was as invigorating as it was intoxicating.

"That's the whole problem, isn't it? I don't know you Vegeta, yet I know you all to well. You forget that night we bonded together. You showed me more of your true self then you have since that night. The thing is, I know you're capable of doing truly monstrous things because I saw you doing them. And that part of you sickens me. But on the same hand, I understand that a lot of what you've done in the past, you were forced to do and that it wasn't entirely your fault. Whether you really believe it or not Vegeta, you have the ability to become a better person and I can see that since your time on Earth, you have changed slightly. But you won't let me get close enough to find out how much you are capable of." Taking a gulp of air, she wasn't even sure what had possessed her to say so much. But every single word of it was true.

Stepping in even closer, Vegeta smirked at his mate. She thought she knew so much about him because of their stupid bond. Yet, even he could tell that what she had said was true. And he didn't want it to be true. Life had been so much simpler when all he had to do was purge planets for that sadistic pink bastard. Letting the guilt rise up in his gullet, he tried to resist feeling the intimate pull that linked the two of them together. She was like a fine wine, intoxicating, only getting better the longer he was with her. Even now, it was all he could do to keep in control of his system, especially with the insatiable desire to prove to her that he was a worthy mate, not that piss-off human she had fucked around with. Grabbing her by the arms, he pulled her close and into his embrace, feeling himself beginning to purr in pleasure from being in such close proximity to her. Pushing her back into the recesses of the shadows so that nobody could see what they were doing, he nipped her lips, not understanding why whenever she enraged him, it always ended up having the opposite effect on his judgment and common sense. He was about to kiss her when he felt her begin to struggle in his arms. Abruptly letting go, he backed off a few inches, giving both of them some much-needed space, trying to ascertain what exactly had just transpired.

"You don't want to know me Bulma. You're just a silly little sentimental fool." Vegeta said as he crossed his arms, still trying to control his subsequent arousal and the fact that he wanted to yank Bulma up to the nearest available bedroom. Gods above, he was so damned pathetic around her and it enraged him to no end. Yet he couldn't help himself and that was what truly terrified him. He was never in control when he was around Bulma. Never.

"Oh, cut the crap Vegeta. Say that like you actually mean it. I think you do want me to know you and your deepest, darkest secrets but you're afraid that I won't like you if you let me in just a little bit. Or maybe it's the fact that you're afraid because you might have finally developed feelings beyond the ones that center on yourself. Either way, it's you who are the fool my sweet Prince." Bulma said unevenly, hoping she was right on the mark. It was the only thing that really made sense in her mind why Vegeta had been avoiding her like the plague except for when he came to her room or she came to his for late night trysts. Anything else would just be too painful, but she had to know. And the reaction she got, although not very pleasing, was a more than an indication that she was right.

Hearing himself growling in frustration, he backed away from her. "I'm not a fool, Woman. And I'm not afraid. I'm the Prince of all Saiyans and I…_am_…_not_…**_AFRAID_**!"

"Then why are you yelling at me? And why are you avoiding me and my thought control lessons? Give me one satisfactory answer!" When he just stood there flabbergasted, Bulma took it as a sign, although it would have been nice if he would've actually admitted what his feelings for her were. Pushing down on the uncomfortable feeling of nausea that had been following her around like the plague, she put her hand on Vegeta's arm, happy when he didn't push her away. "Come on Vegeta. This arguing is pointless. Let's just go back to the barbecue and pretend like nothing happened. My mom fixed your favorite pasta salad and I know you have to be starving." She didn't understand her change in mood. This argument was far from over and she still didn't understand Vegeta or their twisted relationship. But she was too tired to continue on and she really was not feeling well at all. She was relieved when he started to walk back towards the patio, gently disengaging his arm from her hand so that the others wouldn't suspect too much.

"Fine Woman, but you can tell that pussy bandit to piss off or else I will physically remove him myself."

"I will do no such thing Vegeta. Whatever we might have been, he still is my friend even though can be a first rate dick sometimes. But seeing as you are a first rate dick on a regular basis, I think I can put up with a little bit of discomfort." Walking back to the patio, both Bulma and Vegeta noticed the sudden hushing of voices as they came within hearing distance, causing them to both blush slightly.

The entire time they had been gone, all of them with the exception of Goku, Piccolo and Mrs. Briefs had been worried about Bulma's safety with Vegeta. Besides that, Yamcha had pretty much told everyone that the reason he had broken up with Bulma was because she had been cheating on him with Vegeta, although everyone agreed his scenario was unbelievable. Even Goku and Piccolo, who knew that Bulma and Vegeta were eventually going to hook up, thought his story was far fetched both thinking that either of the aforementioned party didn't seem like the type to indulge in an affair when one partner was in a committed relationship. So they were all relieved when the two of them came back, especially seeing that Bulma didn't have a scratch on her body unless you counted the strange ugly scar on her neck and shoulder that was partially hidden by her shirt.

Seating herself back down, Bulma was surprised when Vegeta also seated himself, squarely between her and Goku. In fact, everyone was surprised, noticing how on most occasions when they all got together, Vegeta was conspicuously absent or he sat off a fair distance away by himself. Pulling herself together, she watched as he crossed his arms and gave death stares to both Goku and Yamcha, as though he were challenging them not to come between the two of them. Shaking her head slightly, she was relieved when her mother started bringing out the food with the help of a couple of work bots. With everyone busy chowing down on her mom's famous cooking, she didn't have to worry about what everyone was thinking concerning both her and Yamcha and her and Vegeta.

In a manner of minutes, everyone was engrossed with eating, the only sounds of forks and chopsticks hastily scrapping away at plates as the Z-Warriors ate with gusto. The only people who weren't truly eating was Piccolo because Namekians only lived off of water and Bulma, who suddenly felt too ill to her stomach to want to touch the food. Smelling it was making her want to vomit even though she knew she had practically nothing in her system to puke up. Trying to get a grip on herself, she suddenly noticed that Vegeta was watching her out of the corner of his eyes while he pushed a forkful of meat inside of his mouth.

"_What's wrong Woman? Why aren't you eating?"_ Vegeta demanded to know telepathically, startling Bulma because it had been so long since he had communicated with her like that.

"_Nothing's wrong Vegeta. I'm just not hungry at the moment, that's all."_ She answered back, hoping he would drop the subject. She didn't even know why he was concerning himself with her well being all of a sudden since as of late, he had seemed not to care one whit about her.

Taking in another mouthful of food, Vegeta looked at her, noticing how pale she had suddenly become, trying to ignore the rising sense of concern he was feeling for her. He could not act weak in front of her friends. _"You're a terrible liar especially when you look like death warmed over you." _

"_Look Vegeta, I'm fine. So just leave it. It isn't like you give a rat's ass anyway, so just shove off."_ With that thought, Bulma suddenly felt her stomach beginning to revolt against her. Turning sheet white, she made a hasty excuse as she literally ran inside the house, disappearing up the stairs at break neck speed. Vegeta could feel her illness through their bond. Gritting his teeth, he pushed away her nausea before it affected him similarly. It was then that he noticed everyone was eyeing Bulma's path with speculation. Yamcha was the first to speak up.

"God, I wonder if she was drunk or something. I've never seen her turn that white except for when she's three sheets to the wind." He was about to say more when he noticed everyone was glaring at him, including Mrs. Briefs, who, for as far as he could tell, had never really opened her eyes in front of him. Turning his head slightly, it was Vegeta's dark look that really terrified him. Turning red, he stammered slightly. "W-what's with all the sour looks guys? I'm just stating a fact." It was Mrs. Briefs who answered.

"My Bulma would never come drunk to a party that she instigated in order to see all of her friends. And anyone who says such a thing about her is no friend of hers."

Swallowing with embarrassment, Yamcha backed up his chair. "Look, I'm sorry I said anything. I didn't mean it." Looking over again, he saw that Vegeta was smirking at him darkly. Narrowing his eyes at the Prince, Yamcha foolishly began to push his luck. "What do you think is so funny Vegeta? Laugh it up all you want. You're just a stuck up son of a bitch anyway." He ignored the outraged yell from Chi-Chi for swearing in front of her little boy, challenging the Saiyan Prince even though he knew it was a stupid move on his part.

"Oh am I?" Vegeta purred sinisterly. "Why don't you back up those words with your fists, pussy boy?" He was about to stand up and shove his fist down Yamcha's throat when he felt a restraining arm on his bicep. Growling, he turned around only to face his rival Kakarot.

"Get your hands off of me, you no good third class."

Looking at Vegeta with disapproval, he understood on a basic level why Yamcha's taunting had evoked such a response from the smaller Saiyan. If anyone would ever insinuate things about Chi-Chi like that, Goku probably would have acted in a similar manner. But he couldn't let Vegeta punch Yamcha's lights out at Bulma's picnic because he knew Bulma would be upset if he did. Besides that, he was relieved to somewhat understand that Vegeta and Bulma, while they still seemed to have a lot of issues to resolve, were…something. He wasn't quite sure, but he was adept at reading looks and actions between two people, and the way they acted together was a sure sign that they felt something for one another.

"Come on Vegeta. Settle down. It won't do you any good to punch out Yamcha's lights."

"It will make me feel better." Vegeta answered crassly, relieved when Goku let go of his arm. Settling back down to his food, he tried to resume eating, but now everyone's attention was focused on him because they were surprised he hadn't pounded Yamcha into the ground. Growling in disgust, he looked around. "What?" he yelled loud enough to shake the patio area and the surrounding house, watching in anger as everyone scrambled back to eating what was on their plates. Humans were so damned nosy and he didn't like people interfering in his personal business. He was about to get up and go back to the Gravity Room, realizing exactly why he hated socializing for the most part when he suddenly heard Kakarot's moronic voice in his head.

"_Uh, Vegeta. I don't mean to pry into your business, but don't you think you had better check on Bulma? She's been gone for a while."_

Looking angrily at his rival, Vegeta decided to answer him back, even though his impudence was disgusting. _"You're right Kakarot. It isn't any of your business. Besides, what makes you think that I would have anything to do with that infernal woman anyway?"_

"_I don't know. I don't really know if you do. But you live with her and I think she would take to you checking up on her better than the rest of us. Besides, this way, you can get away from Yamcha before he says anything else stupid enough to get himself killed."_

Growling, Vegeta abruptly stood up, once again cursing himself for his apparent weakness. Glaring at everyone for their audacity to stare at him, the Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta stalked into the house, making his way up the stairs that his mate had recently traversed.

Sitting on the patio, everyone just stood in shock, not really understanding what had just transpired and why Vegeta, out of nowhere, had decided to get up and go into the house. Krillin was the first to break the silence.

"Jeez guys, what do you think that was all about? First Bulma, and now Vegeta."

Folding his arms and leaning back in his chair, Yamcha looked on to where Vegeta had just passed by. "Who knows? Vegeta's a whack job. I don't think anybody will ever be able to fathom what goes on in that crazy head of his." He said as he rolled his eyes sarcastically and spun his hand around in a crazy person gesture.

Goku suddenly felt an urge to slap his retarded friend. So what if he didn't like Vegeta? It was dirty and low to talk about someone behind their back, especially when they weren't present to defend themselves. "Look Yamcha, maybe he was concerned about Bulma and he went to check on her."

Looking over at his naïve friend, unaware of the conversation Goku had just recently had with Vegeta, Yamcha let out a hoot of laughter. "Come off of it! What are you smoking? Maybe you could share some of it with me. I mean, honestly, Vegeta looking after Bulma? All that guy cares about is his himself and finally gaining the ability to beat you in a fight and destroy the world." He was about to continue on in the same vein, letting his bitterness and resentfulness over his breakup with Bulma cloud his good sense when Piccolo interjected.

"All right. This conversation is pointless. We don't really know what possessed Vegeta to go into the house and it isn't any of our concern. So let's just get back to eating before anyone else does something stupid to ruin the afternoon." Deciding that Piccolo was right, everyone resumed eating, trying to ignore the urge to speculate about Vegeta and why Bulma was suddenly ill.

Meanwhile, Vegeta had made his way up to Bulma's room. Carefully opening the door, he ignored her perpetual mess as he made his way to the closed bathroom door. Standing outside of it and cursing himself for being such a fool, he listened in, suddenly hearing Bulma wretch into what he hoped was the toilet. Remember back to the time she had fed him that awful pizza, he felt a sort of vindication, but he also felt concerned, realizing that Bulma hadn't eaten anything recently to make her sick and here she was, throwing up her guts. Knocking on the door briskly, he wasn't surprised when Bulma yelled for him to go away. Pushing the door open, he saw her sprawled in front of the toilet as she once again wretched, noticing with concern that nothing was coming up.

"Woman, do you need to take that god awful pink shit you made me swallow when I was sick?" he asked, trying to mask his worry with his acidic tone of voice and foul language.

Looking up weakly at Vegeta, Bulma shook her head. It wasn't indigestion that was making her sick.

Standing there for what seemed like ages, Vegeta was relieved when Bulma unsteadily got to her feet. Not knowing why, he helped her to stand, letting her lean on him as they walked back into her room. "I think it's over with for now," was all she said as she sat down on the edge of her bed, still feeling as though her stomach was on fire.

Looking down at her, Vegeta crossed his arms uncomfortably. It wasn't right how she was feeling. He could sense there was something wrong with her. "What is wrong with you?" He asked her as bluntly as he could, not raising the inflection of his voice beyond a flat monotone.

Glancing up at him before she lay down on the bed, Bulma sighed. She suddenly had a very real suspicion of what was the matter with her, something that had never crossed her mind until she had found herself with her head in the toilet. She had felt sick to her stomach for the last couple of weeks, but she hadn't paid much attention to it. This was the first time she had been forced into secluding herself in the bathroom. Still hoping that what she had was a viral or bacterial disease, Bulma didn't want to focus her mind on the other possibility because that one scared her above everything else. Closing her eyes, she told Vegeta the truth. "I don't know what it is Vegeta. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to find out." Opening her eyes, she saw that he was about to go downstairs. Not knowing why except for the fact that on a visceral level, she didn't want to be left alone while she was sick, she turned her face towards Vegeta, who was paused in the doorway.

"Vegeta, please don't leave me." Closing her eyes again in case she was disappointed like she always was, Bulma was surprised when she felt the bed shift as another's weight joined hers. She was even more surprised when she felt a pair of arms encircle her waist. Turning to her side, she looked over to see that Vegeta was lying next to her.

"Don't expect me to do this again Woman." He was relieved when she nodded her head and closed her eyes again. Honestly, he still couldn't figure out what had come over him. Maybe it was the fact that when he had been sick, she had tried to comfort him and it had felt nice. Whatever the reason, he was acting like an idiotic baka, giving her the wrong impression when he was still so confused about what he wanted from her and what she wanted from him. Their conversation from earlier still lingered in his head, especially the part where she had accused him of being afraid…afraid of his feelings and what they meant about their relationship. And she had been right, unfortunately. He was afraid. Afraid of her, afraid of himself, and most importantly, afraid of becoming a failure if he didn't figure out how to attain Super Saiyan. It was all riding on him and he felt like a tangled mess with Bulma being squarely at the center of his torment. Why was it so difficult for him? Still not getting any answers, he was about to get up when Bulma shifted a bit and looked at him.

"Vegeta, don't go yet. No one will miss you if you're gone for a little bit more. And could you tell them I won't be down for a while?" Closing her eyes, she dozed off before Vegeta could level a retort at her.

Sighing in frustration, he felt out for Kakarot's mind. _"Kakarot, tell your blasted friends that the Woman won't be down for a while. She's taking a stupid nap."_

He only had to wait a few seconds before he got a reply. _"Sure thing Vegeta. I'll tell them right away_." It wasn't until after they were done communicating that Vegeta realized how odd it would seem to the Z-Warriors that Goku suddenly knew about Bulma's condition. Still, what was done was done, and knowing those idiots, they wouldn't think too much beyond their stomachs. Looking at his sleeping mate, he brushed a few strands of silky hair away from her face, which had finally begun to take on some color. She looked so fragile and it suddenly frightened and elated him at the same time how she was willing to put so much trust in him when in reality, he had not shown her the same amount. Would he ever figure her out? And did it really even matter? Letting out a frustrated sigh, he pulled her close to his body, hoping his warmth would make her feel better. Relaxing himself, he felt himself begin to doze off into a light slumber where his confused thoughts and equally confused emotions tried to sort themselves into something that made sense to the Saiyan Prince's mind when it came to the woman he had chosen as his mate.

_Sorry it took me a while to update. I had a mild case of writer's block, but I think I seemed to have recovered and am now more positive about the direction of this story. Anyway, Bulma's sick and she's going to the doctor. Will she be satisfied with what she finds out and how exactly will Vegeta react, seeing as he is still confused but maybe coming around in regards to his feelings for Bulma? Find out in the next chapter! Please R&R if you would so like to!_


	20. Chapter 20

_Chapter 20! Ha, what an exciting moment. Well, maybe not. Anyway, here it is._

_Sorry it took me a while to update. My sister got married on Saturday so I've been out of town visiting beautiful Oregon for the last week before getting back early this morning. Hope you like this one. And again, thanks to __Bulma and Vegeta fan__, Malaysia Harika 09, __Chazie__, Hatake Umino Nezumi__, Headless-Whore__, eurofighter__, Karma7K, __HannibalFrost__, SuperMaz__, Saiya-jin Queen__, Laura and __Cappuccino Penguin__. You guys are what makes me keep on writing. I luv ya!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ_

_Chapter 20_

Bulma was nervous. Extremely nervous. So nervous, she felt the palms of her hands sweating and her legs shaking in silent apprehension. Trying to ease her fear, she picked up a fashion magazine that was lying across the table next to where she was seated in the doctor's office. Picking it up, she wanted to scream at herself for being so lame brained and weak, some of Vegeta's internal attitudes that had somehow managed to rub off onto her. She didn't know how much longer she could stand the waiting. Her appointment with her doctor was supposed to have started fifteen minutes ago, but like always, she had to wait. Waiting was the absolute pits, especially when she had to deal with the conflicting thoughts she'd been having about her so called affliction. God, what a mess this was going to be if…Her thoughts trailed off abruptly as she desperately tried to center them in her mind, not wanting to give any indication to Vegeta what one of her scenarios for her so called illness were. Just imagining what his reaction would be, seeing as he still was acting like she meant nothing to him for the most part, left Bulma internally quaking at the prospect.

Making herself concentrate on the magazine she had picked up, she began to thumb through the pages noticing that the fashions were at least one season out of date. Letting out a shuddering breath, Bulma tried to concentrate on the tiny details of the fashions she was looking at both as a way to calm her nerves and to hopefully pass the time. Finally feeling her body begin to slowly relax, letting the nervous tension seep out of her system, Bulma was so engrossed in her study that she didn't hear the nurse call her name the first two times she did. It wasn't until the nurse had to come up to her that Bulma finally realized it was time for the next level of torture to begin.

Feeling a hand suddenly touch her shoulder, Bulma, who hadn't noticed the exasperated nurse walking over to where she was sitting, let out an ear splitting yelp and almost backhanded the woman for putting an unwanted finger on her precious shoulder (a mannerism that she had also unconsciously picked up from her illustrious mate). Realizing what she had almost done and noticing the nurse's very perturbed expression, Bulma covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I wasn't...I mean I didn't…oh lord! I just didn't hear or see you come up on me and you startled me." Bulma stammered out, feeling completely mortified. What a way to start her doctor's appointment by practically attacking the nurse with some unconscious martial arts move she had somehow acquired from her inconsiderate whatever the hell he was partner. Bulma knew that the nurse in front of her was the one that was going to be taking down vital information and the last thing she wanted the woman to do was to write down that she was mentally unbalanced or something similar to that. Looking up foolishly, she saw the nurse in question roll her eyes and motion for her to follow her into the examination room.

Standing up slowly so as not to disturb her already aching gut, Bulma sheepishly followed the nurse down the short corridor to one of the examination rooms. Stepping inside the room, Bulma unconsciously swallowed, feeling her nerves start to reapply themselves to her psyche. Taking a calming breath, she tried to talk to herself mentally as she sat down on the cool paper that covered the examination table. 'Come on Bulma. What's the worst that could happen? You might have mono. And if it's something else, you'll deal with it. So stop being such a baby and take it like a woman.' After giving herself the little mental pep talk, she took a deep breath and waited for the nurse to come over to her.

"So Ms. Briefs, why don't you tell me exactly what your symptoms are so that Dr. Hoshikuru might have a better idea of what is possibly causing you to feel poorly."

Looking at the nurse, Bulma gripped the edge of the examination table with her hands and swung her knees back and forth as she tried to come up with the best way of describing what was bothering her and for how long she had been enduring those particular symptoms.

"Well, I guess it started maybe a month ago? I'm not really sure. They kind of came on gradually, like I could ignore them at first. But for the last two maybe three weeks, they have been a constant thorn in my side, so to speak. For one thing, I feel tired all the time, like I have absolutely no energy even though I get a good eight hours of sleep every night." Well, almost every night. Feeling herself blush over what it was she did on the nights she didn't get a good night's rest, Bulma squashed her foolish thoughts to the back of her mind and hurried along with listing her symptoms. "I've started taking naps during the day. They help for a little bit, but I still feel run down all the time. And my stomach has been bothering me as well. It's usually just a continuous ache, but sometimes, especially lately, if I smell something that turns me off, I find myself in the bathroom, you know, ralfing. It's really disgusting."

Looking at her notes, the nurse nodded her head and relayed back to Bulma what she had written down.

"So you have no energy and you feel nauseated."

Nodding her head, Bulma agreed with the notes the nurse had taken.

"Are there any other symptoms that have been bothering you as well, besides the ones you listed?"

Well, if you could consider sharing your mind with another person a symptom of illness, Bulma would have gladly said so, but she didn't think that counted and it would probably end up with her having to pack up for a stay in the psyche ward. Shaking her head no, she let out a sigh as she waited for the rest of the preliminary examination to continue.

"Okay Ms. Briefs. I'm going to take your blood pressure and your temperature and then I'll give you a gown to put on for when Dr. Hoshikuru comes in to see you." With that said, Bulma obediently shoved her sleeve up so that the nurse could put on the blood pressure cuff. As soon as the cuff was on and the nurse had written down the corresponding numbers, Bulma opened her mouth for the thermometer and waited for it to beep, indicating that it was done taking her temperature. Taking the thermometer out of her mouth, the nurse ejected the disposable tip and also wrote down the number the readout indicated, not saying a word to Bulma to either alleviate or confirm her worries. All she did was open a cupboard to take out one of the hideous hospital gowns it contained for Bulma to put on. Shoving it at her, the nurse put her pen away and walked towards the exit.

"You can put the gown on when I leave. The doctor should be in to see you in just a few minutes." With that, she left in a hurry, closing the door loudly behind her.

Letting out a grunt of irritation, Bulma slid off the examination table and started to remove her clothes, carefully folding them in a pile and placing them on top of one of the hard plastic chairs present in the room. Putting on the horrible gown, she tried to tie the back as best she could, still feeling somewhat over exposed. Thinking about what Vegeta would do or say if he ever had to wear one, she let out a small snort of laughter thinking that he would be irate at being forced to wear such a humiliating outfit and probably threaten to blast the person who would infer that he would actually don the thing. Still, her amusing thoughts really didn't do much to alleviate her fears about seeing her doctor.

Bulma really didn't understand why she despised going to the doctor, other than the fact that she hated having to wear the god-awful hospital gowns. Thanking her lucky stars that it wasn't going to be a gynelogical exam, she hopped back up onto the exam table and twiddled her thumbs, waiting for her doctor to waltz his fat ass into the room. In what only seemed like perhaps a minute after Bulma had made her way back onto the table, the door opened admitting a middle aged doctor who, if she wasn't in such an uncomfortable position, Bulma would have probably found him to be more than a little bit attractive. The only thing was, she really couldn't be having thoughts about other men if she didn't want Vegeta to show up and cut off the guy's balls or do something equally horrific to the poor man. There was also the fact the Dr. Hoshikuru had been her personal family practitioner for the last five or so years so the guy had seen more of Bulma in her worst dressed state than anyone else alive on the planet and she just couldn't see herself going out with a guy who had…well, who had done doctorly things to her body. It was just too disgusting to even think about. Letting out a nervous smile, she waited for him to come into the room and shut the door, willing her anxiety to dissipate and her stomach ache to vanish as well.

"Well Bulma, I haven't seen you for a while. In fact, I didn't think you were due in for another routine checkup for at least a couple more months. And knowing you, something must be really wrong if you're in here earlier than normal. Well, unless you enjoy doctor's visits. I know they can be quite a stimulating experience." Dr. Hoshikuru said, abruptly laughing at his stupid pun, causing Bulma to remember the other reason she had decided not to pursue the handsome doctor. She just couldn't hack men who had a terrible sense of humor, and the only humor her doctor seemed to have was related to his lame brained profession.

"Yeah, well, you know how I feel about coming in for stupid routine exams, so can we just please get on with this so I can get out of this ridiculous outfit and get the hell out of here?"

Rubbing the bridge of his noise, Dr. Hoshikuru sat down on the exam stool and looked at his patient who he knew from experience could be quite a handful, especially since she was never shy about being vocal when it came to how much she disliked visiting the doctor. Picking up the notes that the nurse left, he quickly read through them, ascertaining for himself some possibilities of what could be making Bulma feel ill.

The first thing he had her do was open her mouth so he could look for the lord knew what. Then he listened to her heart and her breathing, noting that there was nothing abnormal there. Seeing that her temperature was not elevated and that her lymph nodes seemed to be normal, a sign that indicated that Bulma wasn't suffering from a severe infection of sorts, he decided that he was going to have to call the nurse in to draw a blood and take a urine sample. He also wrote up a note to have Bulma go down to the lab for a throat and mouth culture and a mononucleosis spot just to make sure that all bases were covered. Putting his stethoscope away, he rolled his chair back and looked at Bulma quizzically. In all honesty, she seemed to be healthy and he was beginning to suspect what her ailment was.

"Well Bulma, everything so far seems to check out as normal. Your blood pressure, temperature, heartbeat and breathing are all within the parameters for your age. I'm going to ask you a few more questions and then I'm going to have the nurse come back in to collect a few more samples for tests so we can pinpoint what's wrong."

Bulma sat back nervously. If everything seemed to check out normally, that was supposedly a good sign, but she was apprehensive as to what sort of questions he wanted to ask, which would either confirm or displace her second assumption of what was afflicting her. Without saying a word, she nodded her head to indicate for Dr. Hoshikuru to fire away at his questions, watching as he pulled out a pen to write down his observations along with what the nurse had already recorded.

"All right. These questions might seem a little personal, but they won't go anywhere outside of this clinic. So please be honest with me. When was the last time you had your menstrual flow?"

'Oh lord,' Bulma thought. 'He thinks I'm the p-word!' She wanted to bury herself in the ground, suddenly feeling certain that that was what her problem was. Clearing her throat, she looked over at her doctor who was patiently waiting for her answer.

"Um, I think a little over two months ago. But I've always been uh, you know, um, irregular. Sometimes it's been longer than that before I've had my period." God, this was so embarrassing! She absolutely hated talking about female problems in front of men. It had been bad enough when she had gotten it right after she and Vegeta had hooked up and she had had to explain to him why he couldn't touch her. He had pretty much scorned her concern and called her an idiot for being nervous about a little blood, but it was the principle of the matter. And telling her doctor about such things was even worse because he didn't know her in an intimate sort of fashion. It was just too humiliating. Feeling her face beginning to flush with mortification, Bulma turned her head slightly away so she wouldn't have to look him directly in the face when he fired away his next question which she had a feeling would be even more personal and embarrassing.

"That's fine Bulma. Nothing you need to worry about as long as you've told your gynecologist about it. Now, are you in a physical relationship with someone?"

'God, he really does think I'm the p-word! Shit!' Bulma frantically yelled at herself, hoping to Kami that Vegeta wasn't picking up on her thoughts or her feelings at the moment, even though she was sure he knew something was definitely wrong with her. Trying to stay outwardly calm, Bulma try to come up with an answer that wouldn't point the finger.

"Well, yeah, I've been in a physical relationship with someone for years. But I'm on the pill." That should take care of everything. Besides that, Dr. Hoshikuru knew she had been in a relationship with Yamcha anyway if he had ever seen her records from her other doctor. What did it matter that they had broken up?

"You probably think I'm prying into your personal business Bulma, but well, sometimes I have to ask questions like this just so I know that I'm not leaving any stone uncovered. I won't ask anything more personal, but I'm assuming that you've had physical encounters within the last three months?"

Nodding her head dumbly in a yes motion, the only thing Bulma could think about was that the last time she and Vegeta had been together had been much more recent than three months ago. More like three days ago. Shaking her head, she wanted to run away and hide. Observing quietly as her doctor wrote down her last answer, Bulma was relieved when she heard a knock on the door, indicating that the nurse was back. Leaning back slightly on her arms, Bulma watched as the nurse came in and Dr. Hoshikuru stood up.

"Okay Bulma. Kiki is going to take a urine and blood sample. Nothing to worry about. Then I'm going to have you go down to the lab so they can take some throat and mouth cultures and a mono spot. The results should be ready by tomorrow morning and the lab will call your home to let you know your prognosis. If it's something serious, you can schedule another appointment with me. After you finish up with the lab tests, you can feel free to leave. And hopefully, I won't have to see you again for another couple of months." With that, he left with a cheerful wave, making Bulma suddenly want to smack him in the mouth for thinking that she'd actually want to come back and endure another idiotic exam with him. Turning around slightly, she looked over at the nurse.

"Let's just get this over with so I can go home." Nodding her head in agreement, the nurse moved in with her equipment and Bulma let out a sigh of relief that her ordeal at the doctor's office was finally almost over with.

_The next day…_

Vegeta panted heavily as he aimed a ki blast at the attack bot he was sparing with at 425 times gravity. Watching in satisfaction as his blast hit the bot head on causing it to melt and disintegrate on contact, he let out a sinister chuckle, imagining that the unfortunate bot was stupid Kakarot's fat head. He was about to send another bot to the next dimension when he felt a horrible gut clenching pain radiating from his abdomen. Grunting slightly, he tried to push the annoying sensation away from his conscious awareness, but it continued to persist annoyingly. Letting his concentration slip slightly, he didn't realize he had left himself open for attack until it was too late. Straightening up, he felt the hair on his left arm singe right before he was hit by a blast coming from the stupid bot, making his skin blister on contact. Letting out a roar of anger, he bodily kicked the machine, sending it smashing into the opposite wall, watching as it exploded into a million pieces. Grunting, he walked over to the machine, cursing himself for leaving himself vulnerable to a sneak attack. His arm and pride were smarting and he couldn't help but feel as though there was something seriously lacking in his abilities since he was still struggling to finally achieve what was his by birth right. And now, not only was he still having trouble ignoring his mate and her stray thoughts, but whatever it was that was making her sick was starting to affect him as well. He knew that whatever had caused the pain in his gut was coming from Bulma, which most likely meant that she was feeling miserable. It was like he was at war with his mind and body, trying to separate himself from whatever was affecting her. So much for Nappa's assurance that you wouldn't feel anything from your mate once you were fully bonded. It was all a load of shit in his opinion and he was feeling more and more like an idiot for ever allowing himself to get into his current predicament.

Bending over, he picked up the pieces that were left of the bot, which just so happened to be the last one in the arsenal that Dr. Briefs and Bulma had completed for him over a month ago. The rest had all been vaporized or disintegrated so badly that there was no way Bulma could fix and recoup her losses. Smirking maliciously, he decided it would amuse him to pester her with fixing what was left of this one seeing as she was the reason he had destroyed it, venting out his frustration with the stupid bond he shared with the annoying female. Walking over to the control panel with the bot tucked under his uninjured arm, Vegeta turned off the gravity and then slowly made his way to the entrance, pausing to open the door and make his way outside. It was a bright and sunny day but Vegeta could really care less about the stupid weather that this planet was capable of making. All he could really think about as he made his way towards Capsule Corp. was how irritated Bulma was going to be when he dumped the bot in front of her at her work station located in one of the research and development labs. In truth, he was very conflicted about what he felt about Bulma and he hadn't done a very good job with sticking to his resolution to leave her alone. So he had been making a point of ignoring her again which worked to a certain extent, but it was a double edged sword because he still hadn't done a very satisfactory job of teaching the blasted woman thought control and even though he could tell she was trying, her mind was an open book to him for the most part. It was almost a blessing that he was beginning to be able to block her thoughts, but it was mentally fatiguing and it was showing up in his training which had become sloppy and ill suited for the looming attack from the Androids that strange boy from the future had warned them about.

Opening the outside door, he made his way through the hallway that connected Bulma's house to the corporate headquarters. He almost laughed once he made his way into the company when all the employees scrambled hurriedly out of his path. Most of them had become familiar with who he was over the last couple of years and they all knew the stories about what he was capable of doing to anyone who managed to get on his bad side. Walking through the building to the lab that Bulma was in, he opened the door and made his way over to where he spotted her working, wearing the most ridiculous looking lab coat and a pair of equally unattractive safety goggles on her face. He was slightly disappointed when she looked up from what she was working on, spotting him before he could sneak up on her and scare the living daylights out of her. Shaking his head slightly, he made his way over to her work station, ignoring the whispering of Bulma's subordinates. He had a feeling that they suspected something was up between the two of them since he hadn't been coming down as often to pester her, but it wasn't really their concern and he wasn't going to let the behavior of a bunch of weaklings get on his already frayed nerves. Seeing Bulma's guarded expression, he stood by and waited for her to say something first.

"Well Vegeta, long time no see down here. What brings you here to honor us with your illustrious presence your Highness?" Bulma shot out sarcastically, feeling slightly guilty for being such a pill even thought that was how she normally spoke to Vegeta when he came down to the lab. There was only one reason he ever made his way down into her work space and that was when he decided it would be amusing to argue with her and boss her around. Crossing her arms in imitation of Vegeta's usual stance, she saw what was left of one of his attack bots under his arm.

"Perhaps I wanted to spend quality time with the woman I…_love_." Vegeta replied with a hint of a smirk on his handsome face.

Bulma blinked, not expecting such a reply, especially in front of all of her employees. Was he serious? Internally shaking her head in confusion, Bulma decided that he was most likely toying with her. She highly doubted he was in love with her. The only person she could see Vegeta being able to share that feeling with was probably himself.

"Thanks for the sentiment, but next time you feel like spouting out your feelings for me, do it when you seriously mean it."

"What makes you think I'm not serious Woman?" Leaning forward slightly, Vegeta looked at her conspiratorially. "Have I not made you my mate and do I not show you what it means to be mated to me on a regular basis?"

Bulma could feel her blood beginning to boil from the look he was directing at her and the silky and seductive purr and tone of voice he was using. Sometimes it was so unfair that he had somehow managed to become extremely attractive to her and the fact that he knew how to use her attraction for him to manipulate her frame of mind. Trying to clear the stupor from her brain, Bulma shot him a nasty look. Lowering her voice so that her lab assistants couldn't hear what she was saying, Bulma replied back to her snide partner.

"Showing me what it means to be your mate does not mean you love me Vegeta. All you're doing is gratifying your sex drive anyway. I'm not stupid you know. Besides, I seriously doubt you even understand the meaning of the word love except when it has something to do with you. I'd think you would feel it was beneath you to love somebody anyway."

Well, it was true that Bulma wasn't stupid although she did have the annoying tendency to act in a manner that would point her out to being so to those who hadn't spent any amount of time with her. Still, for some reason it bothered him slightly that she seemed to have such a low opinion of him and his ability to relate to someone beyond the battlefield. 'Gods, what am I even thinking? I don't want to extend my relationship with her beyond bed warmer. Ugh, stupid bond!' he thought as he mentally slapped himself in the head. He could not and would not allow such thoughts or feelings to enter his psyche even though it was a little too late to be thinking that and he knew it. Still, he had to try because he could not allow himself to become trapped to someone in such a manner.

"Whatever Woman. At least we understand one another."

"That's just it Vegeta, I don't think we understand one another in the least. Like I said the other day, you're afraid of letting me get to know you beyond the cranky and evil façade you show everybody else. Underneath, I think you're a lot more complicated then that. In fact, I don't even think _you_ realize what you truly are."

Feeling his irritation rise at her carefully placed bait, Vegeta tried to control his anger and uncertainty.

"Look, I didn't come down here to continue with that stupid conversation from two days ago. You can think whatever you want, but you're completely off the mark. I am what I am and I have made no secret to anybody about my motivations in life." With that, he slammed the broken attack bot on top of Bulma's work station so hard that it startled Bulma and everyone else in the room. It also had the unintended affect of creating a long splintering crack through the work station.

"Jeez Vegeta! Look what you just did! Why can't you at least try to act somewhat civilized when you come down here? You just ruined my desk you big jerk! Ugh!" Throwing her hands up in frustration, Bulma suddenly felt another awful cramp burn through her belly, similar to the ones she had been having all day. Today, they had been the most painful yet but she thanked her lucky stars that she hadn't had a repeat of barfing like she had the day of her picnic. Closing her eyes, she waited for the pain to pass, only realizing that Vegeta also looked slightly ill when she opened them and focused her gaze on the one person who had the uncanny knack for pissing her off like no one else. She was slightly surprised when he spoke up, convinced that he was going to continue on with their argument only so be startled by subject he brought up.

"Woman, did you go seek medical attention like you said you would? Your illness is having the unintended affect of distracting me from my training and if you don't do something about it, I will."

Narrowing her eyes at him, Bulma let out an angry growl.

"Oh, so my sickness is affecting your stupid flipping training? I'm _so _sorry that I'm inconveniencing you. You know Vegeta, you have to be the most selfish person I know! I can't help it I'm sick. What do you want me to do about it?" Standing up, she picked up the remains of the bot and walked over to the scrap heap in the back of the lab for recycling. There was no way that she would be able to fix what was left of it and it would be easier for the lab to build new ones for Vegeta to dismantle at his leisure. Deciding that she had had enough of him, she made her way to the door before she gave into the tears of frustration that were gathering behind her eyes. Again she found herself asking the question of how in the world she had ended up with him. Sometimes, she seriously wondered if she would have been better off staying with Yamcha instead of ending up with Vegeta. Besides that, her bond with Vegeta was something completely new to Bulma and even though she was frustrated with her lack of ability to stick to her guns, she was finding it hard to deny her attraction and the fact that deep down inside, she truly liked Vegeta when he wasn't acting like a prick. She just wished she knew if he liked her at all besides as a sex toy. Would he be there for her when it really mattered? Sure, he had rescued her and he had comforted her when she had felt awful at the picnic, but if she really needed saving, especially in front of her friends, would he step up to the plate? She knew in her heart that if anything happened to Vegeta, she would most likely be devastated. That's how intertwined she had become with him through their bond even though it hadn't even been a year since it had occurred. It was difficult to have feelings for someone and not know how they felt in return. At least with Yamcha, she had had an idea. But with Vegeta, it was like trying to look into a foggy crystal ball for a glimpse of the future: it was uncertain.

Walking up the stairs, she hadn't realized he had followed her out of the lab until she felt someone hold the door behind her once she had opened it to enter into the main hallway of her family's home. Ignoring his hateful look, she made her way to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, she walked in and grabbed a lemon-lime soda and then went to the pantry to pull out some soda crackers. Pulling out a plate, she arranged a few crackers on it before she put them away and then sat down at the table. She had read somewhere that eating soda crackers and drinking clear soda was supposed to help with an upset stomach so she had decided to give it a try. Letting out a sigh, she nibbled on one while she watched as Vegeta fished through the walk in refrigerator for some food capsules, closing the door behind him once he found what he was looking for. Popping the capsule, he sat the food down on the table and sat across from her, crossing his arms in irritation.

"I am not selfish person. It is necessary for me to attain Super Saiyan so I can have a chance of defeating those Androids before Kakarot can get a crack at them."

Bulma dropped the cracker she was holding in her hands, surprised that Vegeta was defending himself. Usually he either ignored her or told her to mind her own business. Clearing her throat, she watched him as he stuffed a sandwich into his face.

"Well, that's fine Vegeta. I certainly can understand why training is so important. I don't want all of the Z-Warriors to die fighting those horrible monsters like that boy from the future said. But can't you see that I can't help feeling the way I do? It's not like I asked to be sick. I hate it."

"I don't see you passing out in pain from the injuries that are inflicted upon me. Do you want to know why that is? Because I make a conscious effort to contain my feelings of pain so that you won't be affected by them. The last thing I need to deal with is you whimpering and complaining about what happens to my body. If you would have paid more attention to the thought control lessons I gave you, you would know how to control your thoughts and sensations better."

Bulma pushed her plate away from her angrily, ignoring the painful gurgling that was happening inside her gut. It was just like him to put all the blame on her for everything.

"Well mister, if you would have spent more time training me and less time undressing me, we wouldn't be in this predicament now would we?" Bulma smirked in satisfaction as she saw a tell tale blush creep across Vegeta's angular cheek bones. "Look, I'm trying the best I can to keep my thoughts and feelings to myself Vegeta but you said it was going to be extra difficult for me since I have no natural telepathic ability or previous training. And your lessons, the few times you've given me some, have never gotten very far in depth. So don't pin it all on me."

"This argument is ridiculous." Vegeta huffed out embarrassedly as he took another bite of his sandwich and a swig of water he had gotten from the tap.

"No it isn't. You just don't want to keep on with it because you're losing." Seeing the look in Vegeta's eyes darken, Bulma knew she was about to be treading on dangerous ground if she kept up with her side of the argument. If anything pissed off the Saiyan Prince, it was being implied that his character was weak. Bringing the soda in front of her to her lips, Bulma took a small sip, feeling it slide down her throat to her raging stomach before she changed the direction of their conversation.

"Just for your information, I did go to see my doctor. He couldn't find anything wrong with me during the preliminary exam, but he sent me down for some tests and they should be calling me with the results sometime today if the lab isn't back logged."

"Huh, why doesn't that surprise me? You humans are so inept it amazes me that you haven't accidentally killed off your entire race at some point in your pathetic history. Whatever that idiot told you, I'm not fool enough to believe that something isn't seriously wrong with your biological system. One does not experience consistent stomach pains without a reason behind it." With that comment made, Vegeta decided to concentrate on eating his food, making sure he was blocking the pains radiating towards him from Bulma. He was relieved when she left him alone and continued to slowly eat the strange fare she had put in front of her. The only thing he could think of while he chewed on a piece of bread was that even though she wasn't eating a satisfactory amount, she was eating something and not spewing it out of her mouth. Perhaps she was getting over whatever it was that she had contracted. Suddenly, a horrible thought occurred to him. Dropping the loaf he was consuming onto the pile of food, he gave Bulma a leery look.

"Whatever is afflicting you, it's not contagious is it Woman?" The last thing he needed at the moment was to contract a disease having no idea what it would do to his Saiyan physiology. Most things didn't affect Saiyans because they were such a hearty race but it was better to be safe than sorry. He shuddered remembering his bout of food poisoning. He certainly did not want a repeat of that incident.

"I don't know Vegeta. Why do you think I went to the doctor, because I enjoy the sensation of having my ass exposed through one of those horrible gowns they give to wear in front of the doctor? I don't think so. I avoid that place at all costs. Anyway, if it is contagious, you probably would have gotten it by now seeing as it's been bugging me for the last couple of weeks and you certainly have been in close contact with me swapping saliva at least a few times during that time span. So just shove off." She was satisfied when he shut his mouth with an audible click before he resumed eating the pile of food in front of him. She wasn't in the mood to continue on with arguing with him. She was about to finish her crackers when her cell phone rang in her pants pocket. Standing up slowly, she felt a surge of gastric juices slice up her esophagus. Cursing the fact that crackers and soda had done nothing but make her stomach feel worse, she walked to the hallway and flipped open her phone, seeing that it was the lab calling with her results. She ignored the curious look Vegeta gave her through the crack in the door she had left open when she finally answered.

Vegeta stood up and made his way to were Bulma had walked out to answer her silly communication device. He didn't know why but he was suddenly curious to find out what was so important that she couldn't talk in front of him. It was obvious she was hiding something from him and he wanted to find out. When he got there, she was holding the phone loosely to her head, a look of uneasiness in her eyes. Turning away from him slightly, she talked into the machine.

"You're positive? Okay. I'll make another appointment. Th..thanks." With that, she flipped the phone shut and stuffed it in her pants pocket before she slowly rubbed her hands upward across her face and then through her hair. Whoever had called her must have said something that was making her extremely uneasy, obvious to him both because of their bond and the way she was acting. Crossing his arms, he leaned in the doorway, looking forward to finding out what was up.

"So Woman, who was that? It must be important for you to be acting so…skittish."

Looking up at Vegeta, Bulma felt horrible. He was gloating over her discomfort, the stupid bastard. Still, she was trying to digest the lab results. She was…pregnant. Pregnant with Vegeta's child and she had a very distinct feeling that he was not going to be happy in the least when he found out. Stepping towards him, she tried to push down her nausea.

"It was nothing. Just the lab calling with the results. I'm not sick and it's not contagious, if that's what you're so worried about."

"It has to be something Woman. They had to have made a mistake. So you'll just have to go back and rectify the situation or I'll do it myself."

Looking at him, Bulma wanted to pull the hair out of his head for being so fucking arrogant and self-serving. Couldn't he understand she didn't feel well and it wasn't like she could help it? No. All he could understand in his small brain was how she related to the things he wanted to achieve in life. And she was nothing but an annoyance in the grand scheme of things. Well, she wasn't going to take it.

"You will do no such thing Vegeta. They didn't make a mistake. I'm…." But before she could finish her disclosure, she felt the bile and gastric juices in her stomach rise up. Trying to move away, she threw up the crackers she had eaten moments ago. Unfortunately for Vegeta, they ended up across his pristine training armor. Looking up at Bulma in disgust, he tried to hold down his own dinner. If there was anything that made him sick, it was having someone vomit visibly in front of him.

"Woman!" Vegeta roared. Pulling off his armor, he threw it in front of her, careful not to touch the warm puke with his gloved hands. "Clean off my armor this instant," he yelled as he walked closer to where she was standing, wiping the vomit off of her lips with the back of her hand.

"I'm not cleaning it off you big jerk! It's your fault!"

"How the hell can it be my fault? There is no way that I could have made you puke up on me. That is a preposterous assumption."

Glaring angrily at Vegeta, Bulma clutched her stomach and started to walk away from him. She had only gotten a few feet when she felt Vegeta's hand on her arm. Letting him turn her around, she felt her eyes start to tear up in exasperation. Stepping away from him slightly, she wiped her tears away in frustration.

"Is it? You're so full of yourself. Well, unfortunately, my supposed illness isn't really an illness and you're partially responsible for it." She watched him as he looked at her with a mixture of unease and displeasure.

"Really? That's interesting. Would you care to explain yourself?" Vegeta asked in calm tone of voice that belayed the turmoil and rage he was experiencing at the moment. Being puked on was a serious infraction in his mind and to blame him for it was beyond ridiculous.

"Not really, but I suppose a few months from now, you're going to find out anyway." Taking a deep breath, she decided to get it over with.

"I'm…I'm pregnant."

All she got from her confession was stunned silence and blank look before Vegeta slowly turned around and walked away from her, slamming the door loudly behind him.

_Hmm, not the reaction from Vegeta you were expecting? Well, next chapter, things should heat up a bit but will this blessed announcement bring our wonderful couple together or pull them apart? Find out in the next installment. Please R&R!_


	21. Chapter 21

_Next chapter and I updated in less then a week! Thanks again to Chazie, Bulma and Vegeta fan, SuperMaz, Cappuccino Penguin, Hatake Umino Nezumi, Ren, St-fux, and rayray for your reviews. They make my day! Hope you enjoy the next segment of my Bulma and Vegeta novel, since it has become so enormously long!  
_

_Chapter 21_

"I'm pregnant."

Those words kept running through Vegeta's mind as he quickly walked away from his mate and slammed the outside door behind him. She…she couldn't be serious, could she? Shaking his head, he tried to think, but all thinking did was make him even more angry than he already was after being unceremoniously barfed on. Making his way as fast as he could to the looming Gravity Room, he decided the best course of action for the time being would be to push Bulma's preposterous announcement out of his head and the best way for that to be accomplished would be to continue on with intense training: so intense that he wouldn't be able to think about anything else as long as Bulma's stomach pains didn't continue to distract him.

Entering the room, he quickly closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it in place. With a look of determination and fortitude, he walked over to the control panel and turned the gravity on. In only a moment, the computer's voice chimed in alerting him to the fact the gravity had been initialized. Feeling comfort as the familiar sensation of the crushing pressure on his body began, he focused his mind on only two things: survival and beating Kakarot to death. Closing his eyes, he let out a deep breath, savoring the image he had in his mind of the ultimate destruction of his rival. After all, what else did he have to live for in this world? Everything he had ever had had been ruthlessly taken away from him or killed. Unbidden, a sudden image of Bulma and a child whose features he couldn't clearly make out slid past his mind's eye. Hearing his inner voice growl out, he forced himself to shatter such a picture into a million pieces, carrying them away on an imaginary wind. Bulma…he could admit in the recesses of his mind that she had somehow managed to worm her way into his affections, whatever few ones he possessed. Why else would he have mated with the wench? But he couldn't allow his attraction for her to get in his way or the idea that he might finally have something in this world that was tangibly his and his alone, something he could protect. The only friends he had had in this lifetime were pain, suffering, and his pride and that was how it must continue if he ever had any chance of meeting his new life goals. And a child, if what Bulma had said was true and not a mistake, would alter his path of destiny even more than Bulma had already done, and he couldn't afford the possible danger that such feelings would cause. He had already suffered enough, losing his family and his world. If he allowed himself to be influenced by Bulma and the responsibility a child would bring along, he would be opening himself up to another reincarnation of misery and that could not happen.

Snapping his eyes open, he slowly made his way through the crushing gravity to the closet that stored all of the attack bots he used to fight against. It was only when he reached the closet and opened the door that he remembered he had put the last two remaining bots out of commission. Clenching his fists in ire over his own stupidity and lack of foresight for destroying his mechanical sparring partners, he blasted the closet in a fit of rage, watching as it instantaneously caught fire and then was vaporized, the remains floating to the ground as specks of soot and ash. Stepping away from the mess he had just created, he decided to use the outer shell of the Gravity Room as a deflection shield. Quickly letting out blasts of ki in every direction, it became a game of survival to be able to duck and parry his reflected attack blasts. That was all Vegeta needed to clear his head until a later time when he was in a better frame of mind to digest and dissect the importance of what Bulma had just told him.

_Meanwhile…_

Bulma stared at the door that the retreating form of her stunned mate had just slammed behind him as he left the building. Straightening up slightly, she looked around her noticing that he had left his vomit-covered armor in the hallway. The first thing she thought of was that he was going to need it if he intended on sparring in the Gravity Room, an idea which was so completely at odds with the situation, Bulma would have laughed had not the enormity of her predicament suddenly come to light in the blink of an eye.

Stepping back slightly, she sagged against the wall, hugging her belly with one arm and putting her hand to her forehead with the other. In all honesty, since the day of the picnic she had suspected as much but she had been praying and hoping that that wasn't the case. But of course, her rotten luck prevailed and that was exactly what was causing her to feel literally like death itself. And now, she was unsure of how to proceed. Obviously, Vegeta hadn't taken her news well. But then again, he hadn't blown her up, the house up, or flown over to the hospital to blow it up as well so that was a good sign, right? The truth was, she really didn't know. Vegeta was extremely good at keeping his thoughts and feelings completely hidden from her for the most part, except for a few times here and there were he did something so out of usual character that she got a glimpse behind his cold and uncaring exterior demeanor. But that didn't mean she understood him. In fact, it was quite the contrary. Every time she thought she had him pegged down into a certain stereotype, he would throw her for a loop. So for all she knew, not throwing a fit of rage at her announcement could mean dire consequences for everyone involved.

Feeling the stress of the situation and what she guessed were her hormones get to her, Bulma let out a sniffling sob, feeling her eyes begin to tingle with unshed, salty tears. What was she going to do? Part of her was secretly happy about the news. She had been longing for a child of her own for a while now, ever since she had first met Gohan at Kame House. But the time had never felt right besides the fact that Yamcha died soon after and it was over a year before she had seen him again. And then there was that strange boy from the future bringing them his tale of apocalyptic terror. So everyone had become consumed with training to try and defeat the Androids. Then she and Yamcha started to have problems, which they had been dealing with for years but had never properly addressed. And somehow, in all of the confusion and shuffle of the last year, she had ended up with her ungracious houseguest and the baby she and wanted but had never felt ready for was finally here and the father was not the person she had expected it to be.

Straightening herself up she decided it was worthless to pursue a pity party just because her life had been rocky for the last year or so. People went through tough periods during their life spans all the time and somehow managed to get back on top of things. And in reality, she didn't have it that bad. She came from the wealthiest family in the world, she had a career that she loved and lots of friends she cared about deeply. Even if the worst case scenario was that Vegeta would disregard her and their child, at least her baby would grow up knowing that it had a mother that would give her life for it and grandparents that would love and dote upon it. The only thing was, she didn't want Vegeta to ignore either herself or their child. It was her personal opinion that children needed both of their parents. Maybe it was because both of her parents were still together and she had grown up knowing that sort of special love between two people. At any rate, she knew that Vegeta had never had such an experience in his life and he had come to the erroneous conclusion that having loved ones and a family were things that were undesirable, things to be feared and avoided at all costs. And such thinking saddened and hurt Bulma acutely. The night they had finished their stupid bond, she had seen his entire life and it had been a horrible existence, one he was still trying to overcome although in her opinion, he was going about it in all the wrong way. But then again, how could he really have any true understanding of what friendship was or what it could do for him when the only friends he had ever had had abused and betrayed him? Just thinking about the insight she had had into his previous life before Goku beat him when he first came to Earth made her shudder. At least their child would hopefully not have to endure such a life, especially if the Z-Senshi managed to defeat the Androids whose appearance was approaching all too quickly in Bulma's opinion.

Shaking her head slightly, she pushed herself away from the wall and walked slowly over to where Vegeta's filthy armor was laying on the floor. She was about to bend over to pick it up when her mother breezily walked in through the door that Vegeta had recently exited from, carrying about five or six huge shopping bags.

"Bulma! I just had the most wonderful time shopping! All of my favorite shops had sales going on and look, I even found something for you!" Setting down her shopping bags, she was about to pull something out of one when she wrinkled her nose, smelling the sour odor of vomit. Looking towards where Bulma was standing, she saw Vegeta's armor and the mess that was covering it.

"Oh my! The poor boy is feeling all right isn't he? It just wouldn't do if he were sick. I'll have one of the bots send him up a tonic to help with his stomach problem." She was about to reach over to one of the communication links to order a work bot brought up when Bulma snagged her arm, pulling her quickly back before she could make the call.

"Mom, don't worry about it. Vegeta's not sick. He's in the Gravity Room training as we speak. I'm…I'm the one who puked on Vegeta's armor. And unfortunately, I did it when he was wearing the stuff so needless to say, he's not a happy camper right now and probably wouldn't appreciate being bothered."

"Oh dear!" Mrs. Briefs exclaimed as she quickly stepped over to where Bulma was standing. Putting a hand to her daughter's forehead, she tsked to herself realizing that Bulma didn't have a fever. "You threw up the day of the picnic too, didn't you? Have you heard back from your doctor yet? This could be serious!"

Bulma rolled her eyes at her mother's theatrics. "Mom, please! I'm a grown woman, not some snotty nosed kid." With that said, she gently disengaged herself from her over-zealous mother. Looking at her mother's somewhat sad expression for being brushed off, Bulma suddenly felt bad, realizing how much she really did want to tell her mother and cry on her shoulder. At least her mother would understand what she was going through to a certain extent seeing as she had obviously given birth to her. And it would feel good to cry on someone's shoulder and blurt out all of her hurt and confusion instead of letting it fester inside her or come out as angry outbursts to the one person who didn't seem to care. The only problem she could foresee was that Vegeta didn't want anyone to know what was going on between the two of them, but it was a little too late for that seeing as she was going to be having a baby in less than nine months. She also didn't feel right talking to her mom about it before really getting a chance to discuss things with Vegeta. She planned on letting him cool off for a bit before confronting him, but most likely they would only end up getting into another yelling match without resolving anything.

'Screw Vegeta! I've turned into a big marshmallow around him, letting his thoughts and ideas about our relationship rule my behavior. Well, this girl doesn't give a shit anymore about what he thinks.' Bulma thought to herself. If he was going to repeatedly act like there wasn't anything between them except for their bond, then she wasn't going to continue to bow down to his wishes concerning whether or not people knew that they were sleeping together. Letting out a huff, she stepped closer to her mother and gave her a hug.

"Hey Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I've probably been driving you nuts with my cranky attitude lately. I just…I just don't know what to do." Before she could stop herself, she started to cry on her mother's very supportive shoulder, feeling her mom rub her back gently.

"There, there sweetie. It's okay to let it all out. I know you've been under a lot of pressure these last few months and sometimes, you need to just let everything that's been bothering you go." Holding onto Bulma for a few more minutes until she got herself under control, Mrs. Briefs tried to sooth her distraught daughter as best she could before Bulma pulled away from her again.

"God Mom, why does everything have to be so hard? Why can't things be the way they were when I was just a happy go lucky teenager with no worries in the world except for finding myself a boyfriend, huh?" Wiping her eyes, she turned to the filthy and very smelly armor stinking up the hallway. She was about to pick it up when her mother took her hand.

"Let a work bot come up and get that honey." Picking up her shopping bags, she motioned for Bulma to follow her into the living room. Seating herself on one of the sofas, she patted a spot beside her for Bulma to sit down. When she was satisfied that her daughter was settled in, she opened the bag that contained her fly of the moment gift for her Bulma. Pulling it out, she handed it to Bulma who was looking at her curiously.

Taking the bundled up material that her mother had handed her, Bulma shook it open, unfolding it so she could see exactly what it was her mother deemed worthy enough to buy her. Lifting it up slightly, she blushed in embarrassment as she finally figured out what it was she was holding.

"Oh my God Mom, what were you thinking when you bought this?" Bulma screeched. It was an almost transparent piece of lingerie with a matching pair of thong underwear. Pushing it hurriedly back into the bag it had come from, Bulma shoved the very pretty but very mortifying piece of sleepwear at her mother. All she got from her mother was a silly giggle, finding the bag squarely back in her hands.

"Oh please sweetie! Could you see my wearing anything like that?" Her mother laughed.

The sad thing was, Bulma knew her mother owned quite a few numbers very similar to the one she had just given her, and she certainly didn't like the visual image that flashed through her mind of her mother wearing something like that in front of her father. Totally gross!

"Besides," her mother said as she gave Bulma a sly look, "I thought you might like to put it to good use for our handsome and buff houseguest. If you won't, maybe I will!" Honestly, with the way Bulma and Vegeta had been sneaking in and out of each other's rooms for the last few months since he had come back from the wilderness when they didn't think anyone was watching, it wasn't like it was a secret with her anymore. Besides, she liked to get her daughter riled up once in a while for the fun of it. Everyone thought she was a simpering idiot for the most part, and basically she was, but she did have a devious streak inside of her that begged to get loose once in a while.

Bulma tried to gauge her mother's intent before she sputtered out her rebuttal. "Mom, you can't…you wouldn't…you're…you're married for Kami's sake and old enough to be his mother. On top of that, I know for a fact that Vegeta would rather run naked through the streets of West City instead of having to see you flaunt yourself in a teddy. And what makes you think I would want to expose myself to him in such a manner? He wouldn't care anyway. It would be on the ground before I'd have a chance to show it off to him." With that last comment, Bulma covered her mouth in shock. She couldn't believe she just said that in front of her mother. Closing her eyes, she let out a small moan feeling like she wanted to bury herself inside of the sofa she was currently sitting on.

"Well, don't worry honey. Vegeta's all yours. I do find him very handsome, quite charming really. But your father is the only man for me. Besides, men can be quite unpredictable when you do something that changes their routine, if you catch my meaning." Patting Bulma's arm, she smiled as she watched her daughter grow three shades redder.

"So, ah, Mom, I…mmm, how much do you know about me and Vegeta?"

"Well, how much do you want me to know? You've been sharing each other's rooms since he got back and I've had my suspicions long before that the two of you were fighting with each other because you enjoy the attention you get from one another and the fact that you were trying to deny an attraction that was more than obvious to my closed eyes. If you don't want the world to know about your undying love for one another, that's your business. It's just a little bit futile when all anyone has to do is spend time with the two of you in the same room when you don't think anyone is watching."

Bulma scrunched her eyebrows together in horror. What was her mother, some kind of creepy voyeur? She couldn't be seriously spying on the two of them, could she? Besides, what the heck was she talking about, Vegeta's undying love for her? More like his undying dislike of her. Maybe he did stare at her a lot, but he did that even before he came back from the mountains. And, if her mother really was chasing after the two of them she would know that she and Vegeta had been avoiding arguing with each other.

"What were you doing, skulking around in vacant rooms and corners trying to catch the two of us alone? That's sick not to mention mentally unbalanced Mom!"

"Well, look at it this way. When you have a twenty eight year old daughter who is still unmarried and you want to have grandchildren, wouldn't you want to make sure certain positive things were happening?"

"That's what this is all about Mom, the fact that you want grandchildren? Why couldn't you have said something when I was with Yamcha? And why would you want me to have Vegeta's kid? That just doesn't make sense!" There was no doubt in her mind that her mom was beyond strange.

Moving in closer to Bulma, Mrs. Briefs put her arm around Bulma before answering her questions. " Baby, I might not always be the smartest fish in the sea, but even I could tell that having a child with Yamcha would have just ended up in heartache. That boy is no where close to being ready or responsible for a child just yet. Besides, even though the two of you had been together for a long time, your father and I could tell that the two of you had matured apart from one another over the years, your lives moving in different directions."

"But Vegeta? That makes even less sense than Yamcha Mom!"

"Well, I don't know. I'm not sure what kind of a father he'll make, but he sure is a hottie so I'm guaranteed my grandchild will be graced with good looks. He seems to be a troubled young man and maybe he needs a few miracles in his life before he sorts things out for himself. And a child is a miracle, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I guess it is. Well, thanks for the lingerie Mom. I don't know if I'll ever use it, but could you please not say anything about, uh, you know, Vegeta and me to Dad? I mean, unless he's been spying on the two of us like you have been? Then again, what's the point when the whole world's going to know anyway?" With that, Bulma pushed her face into her hands and stared straight ahead of her. She wanted to tell her mother, but even though she had told herself she didn't care about Vegeta's input anymore, it was pretty far from the truth. He came first, then her parents.

"What do you mean, the whole world is going to know?"

"Ah, it's nothing." Standing up slowly, she rubbed her belly slightly, noticing that it wasn't any different looking than it normally was. But how long was that going to last? There was no hiding this little secret, at least not from her parents. Moving towards the doorway, she looked at her Mom as she also stood, picking up her numerous bags containing her large amount of purchases. "Look, I'm not feeling too well. I'm going to go lie down for a while and then I'm going to have a little chat with the Prince of all Saiyans who is currently sulking in the Gravity Room. He blew up the last attack bot and I've got a million other things on my mind right now. But thanks for being there for me Mom. I really mean it. Sometimes, I don't realize how lucky I am to have parents who really and truly care about me." Sighing, she turned her conversation inward. 'I hope my little squirt will have two parents that care about it.' With that, she walked out of the doorway and up to her room where she seemed to be spending an inordinate amount of time lately.

Watching her daughter go, Mrs. Briefs had mixed feelings. It wasn't really like Bulma to keep her problems to herself. She had a big mouth, which she had inherited from her, and when things were wrong or bothering her, she let everyone know about it. At least she had opened up somewhat about her current emotional state, but she had a feeling it was because something had happened between her and Vegeta that had changed things making them more unsettled and unclear. If only she could talk to Vegeta about what was going on but she really didn't want to end her life prematurely. She was still one hot mama and life was too precious to waste. Feeling disgruntled, she looked out in the hallway noticing that Vegeta's armor was still sitting around. Using the nearby communication link, she paged the front desk of Capsule Corp to send up two workbots, one to clean up Vegeta's armor and one to take her purchases upstairs. With that taken care of, she whistled a little off key tune and decided to bake Bulma's favorite dessert: a good old-fashioned cheesecake. If anything, a sweet treat could put a smile on anyone's face. That was her philosophy for life and she was going to stick to it no matter what.

_Later on…_

Bulma made her way downstairs after her nap. Who knew that being pregnant could be such a drag? She felt like the pits but at least her stomach wasn't bothering her anymore. If she had to deal with being sick and tired for the next seven or so months she honestly didn't know what she was going to do. All those TV programs on The Learning Channel made it seem like being pregnant was a dream come true but so far for Bulma, it was kind of like a really bad dream and the sad part was, she had just found out. And on top of that, she was going to have to start seeing an obstetrician who was probably going to be poking and prodding her in any number of very private places. Stinking doctors! They were all nothing but a bunch of perverted leeches in her opinion.

Making her way outside, she felt the warm sunlight reflect off of her turquoise hair. The warmth provided made her feel more cheerful and revitalized. If she didn't have a very important task to accomplish, she would have pulled up a lawn chair from the patio and made herself comfortable, soaking up the light. But instead, she was going to have to make her way into Vegeta's lair, which was akin to throwing herself into a snake pit full of venomous cobras without any protective gear. She'd let him blow off steam for the last couple of hours and the more she waited about confronting him, the more chicken she was becoming. But this situation didn't just concern her; it concerned him as well. Even though in reality they weren't really two separate people living two separate lives anymore, that was pretty much how they, or at least Vegeta had been acting. But she would be damned if she was going to end up pulling all the weight when it came to the little bun in her oven.

Walking determinedly up the ramp telling herself that Vegeta wouldn't dare blow her up, she raised a shaky hand to the communication link, readying herself to scream and plead for him to let her in if the need arose. But for once, she didn't have to. As soon as she touched the button, the hum of the gravity generator shut down and the door slid open revealing a bloody, smelly, filthy, sweat drenched and tired looking Vegeta. She watched as he crossed his arms.

"What? Are you going to stand there gawking or are you going to come inside? That _is_ why you troubled yourself to come out here, isn't it?" Not waiting for her reply, he turned around and walked back into the Gravity Room. Taking the hint, Bulma followed him inside, letting out a little startled gasp when the door slid shut behind her with a whoosh. Letting her eyes wander, she noticed numerous scorch marks littering the walls of the Gravity Room along with a pile of ash in front of what had once been the storage closet for Vegeta's practice bots. Narrowing her eyes, she glared at his back, which was still turned towards her.

"Holy crap Vegeta, what were you trying to do in here, blow yourself up again? And what, pray tell, happened to the storage closet? That's the last straw mister! If you can't take better care of the things my dad and I provide for you then you can just live without them!" She was about to continue on in that vein, finding comfort in the familiar argument when Vegeta suddenly spun around from where he was standing so he was facing her.

"Shut up! I don't give a damn about the stinking closet or the state the Gravity Room is in at the moment. You didn't come in here for the express purpose of screaming at me over a few scorch marks and a disintegrated closet so get on with whatever it is you are intent on telling me before I kick you out." He watched angrily as her eyebrows scrunched up in fury, she clenched her fists and her face began to turn an unsightly mottled color.

"Uhh, why you! Doesn't it bother you in the slightest that whatever you were doing in here could have killed you? And kick me out? You wouldn't dare, you smelly simian! I built the damn thing!"

"Personally, I could care less if I came close to death or not. The more injured I am, the stronger I become when I heal foolish Woman! You should know that by now."

Looking at him with flashing eyes, she lowered her lids slightly and let out a sigh. He really didn't get it. She could fix the GR and build a new closet, but if he accidentally killed himself trying to become a Super Saiyan, well, she couldn't replace him.

"Look Woman, I know my limits. I'm not intent on killing myself if that's what you're so worried about. I've been dead once and I don't particularly want to repeat the experience for a long while yet. I have too many things to accomplish to waste myself accidentally." Vegeta said rather gruffly, looking away from her to try and hide the idiotic feeling of warmth that had crept into his face when he realized she really did care about him for whatever reason he couldn't quite fathom. It wasn't like he was nice to her. Shaking his head, he motioned for her to seat herself on the floor before he joined her. It wasn't like he really wanted to have this conversation with her but he supposed it had to be done and he would rather do it in a more comfortable position that standing upright.

When Bulma made no move to engage him in the dreaded conversation, Vegeta asked the first question that popped into his head.

"You're sure?"

Bulma crossed her arms and let out a little huff, blowing her bangs out of her face. "Yes Vegeta, I'm sure. It makes sense for one thing although how it happened, I have no idea. I've been on birth control the whole time you and I, uh, well, you know. So even though um, you, uh, didn't, um, use protection, I figured it would be full proof. I mean, Yamcha didn't always, you know, and I never got pregnant with him."

"Woman, don't you dare mention the fact that you and that pansy were doing things that should have waited until you were properly mated to one another. I don't need to be reminded of the fact that he touched your body. Besides, that's completely beside the point. He's human and I'm Saiyan, a much more superior breed altogether. So it stands to say that whatever worked for him wouldn't work for me, although this…this result is not what I ever intended on producing with you in the first place."

Bulma felt her anger beginning to take control again. "Oh come on, you're just jealous of Yamcha. Besides, it's not like you ever touched a woman without the intent of bonding with her is it? And don't give me that male chauvinist garbage that it's different for a man because it's not. And believe me Vegeta when I say this, I didn't want to get pregnant either."

"Hah, that's a lie and you know it. What better way for you to keep me here against my will then to conveniently get yourself with child?" He knew with sudden clarity that he had gone to far with his last comment when Bulma screamed at him in rage, standing up and aiming a kick for his head. Putting up his hands to cover his face from the incoming blow, he grabbed her leg, which had the unintended result of putting Bulma off balance. Seeing that she was pinwheeling her arms to keep from falling over, he instinctively grabbed a hold of her waist, pushing her down into his lap.

Finding herself sitting on top of Vegeta's lap, her face inches from his and her one hand somehow wrapped up in his soft hair, Bulma tried to scramble away from him when she saw the all too familiar look of lust on his face. Thankfully, Vegeta seemed to snap back to reality, letting her go reluctantly as she pushed backward and landed on her butt in a very inelegant heap.

"That was totally uncalled for Vegeta. How could you think I would ever do something that low, you asshole? If you think I'm capable of such a deceitful move than you really don't know me well at all."

He could tell she was extremely angry with him, maybe even a little hateful for that matter and such a reaction should have pleased him because it would make things that much easier in the end. But it didn't please him. Instead, he remembered back to when he claimed her as his mate, realizing that there were a lot of similarities between the two of them, one of them being that each had been used during their lifetimes, albeit for very different purposes. And he was just using her like everyone else and now on top of everything, he'd somehow managed to create a life with his own putrid existence. He felt guilty and angry and even a bit sorry for being himself. However, he couldn't change how he was, not for her and not for their unborn child. He had made many sacrifices in his life and he had suffered defeat over and over again. He had been mocked, abused and humiliated and in the back of his mind, he was a failure as a Saiyan Royal Elite. What right did he have to produce a part of himself in another being? Putting his hands to his head, shaking it in an effort to gain control over the turmoil of thoughts in his brain, he didn't realize he was worrying Bulma until she felt her touch on his shoulder and sensed her sudden concern through their shared mental link.

"Vegeta, are you alright?" He was acting strange and what was more, for the first time since they had bonded together, she could sense his thoughts and they were…disturbing. He was doubtless confused, but she couldn't understand how something like finding out that you were going to be a father could bring up the haunting demons from his past. As soon as she touched him though, his mental walls were up again, crowding her out from sharing his inner suffering and confusion.

Pushing her arm away callously, Vegeta turned his face from her inquiring one. "Of course I'm fine you baka. At least you understand the reality that having a child makes no difference to me. I don't plan on staying indefinitely on this mud ball planet of yours. As soon as the Android threat is taken care of and I beat Kakarot once and for all, I'm leaving, child or no child. And if for some unforeseen reason I decide to stay, the brat will grow up knowing what it means to be a Saiyan. I refuse to treat it like some silly human, doing all the ridiculous things Kakarot no doubt does with his own bratty offspring."

"But you'll acknowledge that the baby is yours?" Bulma asked, feeling saddened at his refusal to bend even just a little bit, to show that he was capable of caring. But then, what did she expect? He was Vegeta after all, one of the most stubbornly obstinate people she knew.

"I suppose so. It's either that or have your entire idiotic friends think the brat is yours and that weakling scarred up freak. Well, I have no intention of letting what is mine be tainted by association with that moron."

'Well,' Bulma thought, 'at least that's something. I should be thankful that he's not telling me it's not his. But still, you'd think he'd be a little more receptive of the idea that being a father and having a family isn't that bad. It's not like I'm trying to change or mold him into something he's not.'

"Fine Vegeta. But you do know that us having a relationship isn't going to be a secret anymore once the baby is born, right? It's not like I can hide my own child. Besides, I had a run in with my mom and she already knows about us, even though I didn't tell her about the baby because I hadn't cleared the air with you yet. But she'll figure it out eventually when I look like I have a basketball stuck inside my stomach."

Vegeta looked at her quizzically. What the hell was she talking about, looking like she had a ball stuck in her belly? Deciding he was curious, he cleared his throat a bit.

"What are you talking about? What does a ball have to do with having a brat?"

"Are you serious Vegeta? Jeez, what did they teach you on Freiza's ship? Obviously it wasn't about the birds and the bees. I'm pregnant, hello! The brat, as you put it, is inside of me and as it grows bigger, which it will, so will my stomach until it decides it wants to come outside and play." God, how dense could you be? She always thought Vegeta was intelligent, but she couldn't believe that he had no clue about where babies came from. What did he think, they came down from the sky being dropped off by a giant stork?

"That is absurd Woman. I know how brats are created but I've never heard of anyone allowing it to continue to grow inside the womb. That's what incupods are for."

Now it was Bulma's turn to be confused. Incupods? It sounded like some sort of weird insect or something. "What in the world is an incupod?"

Grunting in frustration, Vegeta didn't really feel like making an explanation but if he didn't, Bulma would hound him until he wanted to punch her lights out. "On Planet Vegeta and all other advanced worlds, the growing fetus is removed from the mother and placed inside an artificial one. That way, the female can go back to fighting with her squad instead of being laid up by her condition."

"Well, Prince Charming, we don't have that sort of technology available here on Earth so it's going to be stuck inside me until I give birth. Besides, that sounds totally…creepy. What mother would want to give up the experience of being with their infant until it's born? How do you create a bond?"

"You don't. That's the point. Famial bonds are a weakness; one to be avoided especially coming from a warrior society. Why do you think we had no trouble sending off babies to weak planets like Earth to ready it for sale?"

Bulma was horrified, but it did make sense and she also was slightly pleased to get some much needed insight into part of the reason behind Vegeta insisting he wanted no part but a minimal one with her and their baby. He was still a warrior and if he admitted to having feelings for her, it could have devastating (at least to him) affects on his chosen profession.

"That's totally disturbing and I'm glad I'm not a Saiyan female if that's what used to happen. As it stands, I think you're completely wrong about family being a weakness. But I'm sure you already know that, seeing as I can't keep my thoughts shut out of your head and I have a big mouth." Deciding she wasn't going to change his mind about how he chose to interact with her and their child for the time being, Bulma decided it was time to leave. Trying to stand up, she was grateful when Vegeta, who had already stood up, offered her his hand. Grabbing a hold of it, he pulled her upright until they were standing almost nose to nose. Blushing slightly and feeling uncertain, Bulma took a step back and then waved her hand in front of her face.

"Ugh Vegeta, you smell awful. And you're all beat up. Maybe you should go the infirmary."

Looking at her sourly, he started to walk towards the entrance, waiting for her to catch up with him. Just seeing how much he found himself waiting for her and helping her was enough to make him shudder. It was like he was becoming considerate, something he'd never been before. Still, he couldn't really help it. He was drawn to her and it felt…it felt right somehow. What a pussy he was becoming.

"I'm fine Woman, so leave it." Opening the door, he heard his stomach growl. He had no idea what time it was but he felt that he was done training for the time being. Besides, a good, hot shower would be invigorating before a huge meal. And it would give him even more time alone to mull over his confused thoughts about Bulma and his apparently growing…family. Family. It was a strange word and a strange concept for him to grasp and he didn't think he really wanted to understand it. Still, for whatever reason, the Saiyan Gods where probably laughing at him, seeing how idiotic he had become to allow for such a thing to occur in the first place.

Walking outside of the Gravity Room and back into the house, the two of them went upstairs to their respective rooms, which felt a little strange considering their circumstances. Honestly, how many married couples who were going to have a child kept separate bedrooms? It was absurd when both Bulma and Vegeta stopped and thought about it, even though their thinking was on very different levels. Still, Vegeta didn't want to give Bulma the wrong impression and Bulma didn't think Vegeta was ready at this point to take their relationship to the next level since he was still insistent on thinking that he would leave someday and never come back. It wasn't a very comforting thought and Bulma was starting to understand why. When you started to care about someone, it was never easy to let go.

Without saying a word to her, Vegeta opened up his bedroom door and walked inside, closing it behind him as soon has his body had cleared the door. Bulma felt herself slump a little bit. This was bordering on impossible. How was she going to carry on when for all intents and purposes he kept insisting on separating himself from her as much as possible? Yet he had to be internally struggling to keep himself away from her on an emotional level. Maybe it was because she was human and she was more or less in touch with her emotions, but this stupid bond, even from the very beginning, had made it almost close to impossible for her to keep from developing feelings for him, even when he made a minimal effort to act like he cared. She had a hard time believing that it was easy for Vegeta to remain as aloof as he tried to act. It wasn't much of a consolation, but it was there. And seeing as he hadn't out right rejected her claim about the baby and he hadn't run away, that was sign in the right direction. At least she hoped it was.

Opening up her own room, she walked over to a chair and slouched into it. This day had been a roller coaster so far. In fact, the last few days, no make that months, and been nothing but a rocky ride. Touching her belly again, she relaxed and thought about the positives associated with her condition. She would finally get to go baby shopping for herself. And she'd have to decorate a nursery. Wouldn't it be fun if Vegeta…She let her thoughts trail off. It would be funny to see him actually doing something out of character like painting the nursery or building a rocking horse or any other stereotypical thing you saw new fathers to be doing on television. But it was just a silly idea in the back of her head. Even if he chose to stay with her over the years, hopefully without having to kill Goku, and he mellowed out, she highly doubted he would ever behave in such a manner. It would be too human of him to do so. She understood that, so it didn't really bother her. But would it kill him to just once allow himself to express his true thoughts about her? If Goku could, then why couldn't Vegeta? They were both Saiyans, even if Goku and Vegeta had been raised completely differently with different expectations. It wasn't like she expected him to shout out his undying love for her because she didn't even know if she loved him in return. She felt different about him than she had about Yamcha, but they were two completely different men with two completely different personalities. Yamcha was easy going and affectionate, but not very loyal, whereas Vegeta was dark and cynical, but much more committed. Even if he left her, she had a hard time believing he would take somebody else up as her replacement. He would live the rest of his life alone.

"What a depressing thought. I can't believe that that's what he truly wants. I know he's lonely. That's what drew me to him in the first place besides the fact he's the only person I can't out argue on a regular basis. And if he can connect to me in some fashion, that must mean that he doesn't really like being all alone, wrapped up in his own thoughts." With that, she leaned her head back in her chair, trying to use her bond to peek into Vegeta's thoughts to no avail. It was like there was a steel wall separating his mind from hers. Letting out a deep breath, she ran her fingers through her hair as she stood up. Deciding it would be a good idea to go back to the lab and start work on assembling more attack bots for Vegeta, she made her way to into the hallway. Pausing at Vegeta's doorway, she didn't know what possessed her to do it, but she found herself taking out a pad of paper and pen she kept on her person most of the time. Using the door as a prop, she wrote him a simple little note, folding it in half and wedging it between the door and the wall, making sure he would notice it. With that, she made her way to the lab, blushing slightly at her nerve for doing such a ridiculous thing. Knowing Vegeta, he'd just burn the thing without reading it anyway.

The thing was, she couldn't have been farther from the truth. About twenty minutes later, Vegeta had finished his shower and was on his way to his door after he had finished treating his injuries and had put on some fresh training gear. Upon opening the door, he saw a piece of paper flutter to the floor in front of him which had been cleverly placed where he wouldn't avoid seeing it when he left his room. Bending over, he picked it up and slowly unfolded it, having a sneaking suspicion it was from Bulma. Opening it up all the way, he quickly read it, surprised at what it said. It read:

_I care about you and you don't have to be alone._

Looking at her hurried hand writing, Vegeta felt an unfamiliar warmth creep into his body. He didn't understand why such simple note could affect his mood but if he could have put a finger on what he was feeling at the moment, he would have said it was happiness. Still, he told himself it was just a stupid note written by a sentimental female. However, the warmth didn't leave his system. Carefully folding the note back up, he placed it in one of his pockets. Stepping thoughtfully into the hallway, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen to forage for some more food, not realizing that as he was walking, his customary scowl had been replaced for the briefest of moments by a very slight and almost mistakable smile.

_Well, obviously things didn't go too badly for our favorite couple. But the fun is yet to come when Vegeta has to deal with Bulma and her raging hormones. How will they affect him and his training and when will he finally admit to himself and Bulma about how much she is starting to mean to him? Find out next time! As always, Please R&R!_


	22. Chapter 22

_Here it is. Another installment. Hope you enjoy and aren't too upset by the seriousness of this chapter. I think I've been reading too many angst stories lately and they sort of rubbed off on me. Please tell me what you think. And special thanks to Miu 09, Cappuccino Penguin, Bulma and Vegeta fan, Saiya-jin Queen, Chazie, puccababe, Hatake Umino Nezumi, SilverWing145, Pearl3, PuRpLeCoRaL for taking the time to review my story. You are too kind!_

_Chpt 22_

_A couple months later, give or take…_

Bulma cracked open her heavy lids, letting out a slight sigh through her partially open lips as she found herself waking up from a deep and luxurious sleep. Yawning slightly, she closed her eyes and placed her right hand on her stomach, which was just starting to get slightly round. It was exciting to her, the idea of a life with a beating heart just below her skin. Touching her belly in the morning had become somewhat of a ritual for her, helping her to stay connected with what was happening to her body. Opening her eyes, she glanced upwards at the ceiling, noticing that her room was still dark, only a small amount of dim light penetrating through the curtains that covered the sliding glass door to her balcony. Rolling over onto her side, she let out a surprised grunt when she felt her body hit something decidedly hard.

Propping herself up on her arm, she squinted in the dim light trying to make out what was in the bed with her. Looking downward, she was surprised to find none other than Vegeta sleeping with his back turned to her, letting out soft snores every once in a while as he simultaneously hogged the covers of her bed. Slowly lying back down, she tried to figure out exactly what Vegeta was doing in her bed. Nudging her head to the left, she looked at the digital alarm clock that told her it was a little after six in the morning, much later then Vegeta normally slept. And then there was the fact that she remembered going to bed early, very much alone. To top it all off, she and Vegeta still slept in separate rooms, so unless she had somehow managed to sleep walk into his room, there was something decidedly wrong with the current picture.

Moving over slightly so that she could grab some of the covers he had managed to steal away from her, she nudged him in the shoulder. Letting out a few choice swear words and a grunt of irritation, she lifted herself up slightly and leaned over so she could talk in his exposed ear.

"Vegeta! Wake up you big dummy! I'm freezing to death and you're late for your morning torture appointment!" Bulma hissed into his ear, early morning crankiness lacing her words for good measure. Disgusted when all she got in reply was a rough grunt, Bulma decided to take matters into her own hands. Moving over slightly, she planted her hands on Vegeta's back and gave him a mighty shove. Snickering disparagingly, she watched as Vegeta tried to keep himself from falling out of the bed by grabbing the edge with his hands, his left leg sticking out awkwardly while his butt shot up into the air. Unfortunately, he managed to pull all the rest of the covers off the bed as he tried to right himself. Thrusting his body back onto the bed, he sat up suddenly when he also realized that he wasn't alone, his angry and bloodshot eyes meeting the beautiful blue ones of his mate.

"Shut up Onna!" Vegeta rasped out in reaction to Bulma's obnoxious laughter. He wasn't in the mood to deal with her viciousness this early in the morning. Glaring at her, he wanted to find out exactly what she thought she was doing by coming into his bedroom and then pushing him out of his bed. Thinking back foggily, he couldn't recall inviting her to join him for late night pleasantries, which was the only time he allowed Bulma into his room to spend the night. "What the hell are you doing in my bed?"

"Your bed? Excuse me your Excellency, but this happens to be my bedroom. You're the one who trespassed, so don't start yelling at me about it. It's not like I'd want to share a bed with you anyway. You hog the covers and you snore louder than…than a…a bear!" Well, the bear analogy was a little lame, but it got the point across. Watching as Vegeta's dark eyes began to snap in anger, Bulma wondered if it was such a wise idea to start an argument with him this early in the morning, especially since she knew he was going to be extremely frustrated when he realized he had overslept for the fourth time that week. However, instead of laying into her with his razor sharp whit and harsh words, Vegeta simply turned his back to her and pushed his legs over the side of the bed.

"Fine Woman. You don't want to share a bed with me, then I'm leaving." With that he stood up rather unsteadily, almost crashing into the wall as he tottered forward. Cursing himself for being so damned klutzy, he straightened up stiffly, trying to ignore the worry that washed through the bond he shared with Bulma. He hated looking like a weakling and in front of someone with no power whatsoever, it was unbearable.

Bulma watched as Vegeta caught himself from toppling over. Moving over to the edge of the bed closest to where he was standing, she had a feeling that Vegeta was currently going through a moment of critical self-evaluation. Ever since she had told him about her pregnancy, by all outward appearances he seemed to have become more accepting of their bond. But internally, Bulma wondered what exactly it was he was thinking and feeling about a myriad of things, including herself and their unborn child. On top of all that, he'd also started to exhibit behaviors that were…were more than a little bit unusual coming from Vegeta. Being klutzy in front of her was one of them and it troubled her deeply.

"Vegeta, are you okay?" Bulma asked in a voice barely over a whisper. She watched apprehensively as he turned his face slightly in her direction, a look of pure loathing evident in his flashing, obsidian eyes.

"Do I look all right to you woman? For one who vaunts herself as a genius, you ask the most fucking ridiculous questions."

It wasn't so much the words he used to insult her but the tone of voice that cut Bulma to the quick. In moments, she felt herself begin to lose control. Normally, such an accusation would have prompted Bulma to rant at her dickhead lover. However, since she was pregnant, her moods where liable to shift with the drop of pin and not in the ways that were usually predictable for her personality. Hell, she could even admit that before she got pregnant, her moods around Vegeta had become morose and depressed and somewhat strange. It was her reactions that had become almost over the top in a way that she couldn't control.

Hearing a sniffle from the still form of his mate, Vegeta felt his cheeks begin to redden. Suddenly regretting his choice of words and their delivery, he very much wished he could be anywhere but where he currently was standing. Bulma had become…unpredictable and he had a feeling that part of what he was dealing with had to do with that factor. Her moods were like night terrors, stalking him when he least expected them to appear. Whereas a few months ago, such a comment as he had just made would have prompted a vicious argument, he had a feeling that at any second, Bulma was going to turn into a weeping, sobbing wreck and her strong emotions had a tendency lately to override his own survival based needs. In less then ten seconds, Bulma's eyes filled to the brim with tears, leaking out in small rivulets and dripping across her chin. Visibly cringing, Vegeta watched in horror as she let out a tremendous wail and started to sob into the bed, pulling the sheets up to use as a blotter for her overly abundant tears. He had dealt with her sobbing in the past, only making him feel slightly guilty or angry for instigating it. But now, he felt a strong desire to collapse next to the bed and sob right along side her, something he shouldn't be feeling in the first place. Putting his hands to his ears to block out the dreadful noise of her caterwauling, he did the only thing he could think of: he left the room, internally feeling the war of his personal emotions pitted against Bulma's hormonally induced ones.

Slamming her door shut, instantly silencing the sound of her bawling to his sensitive ears, Vegeta stalked his way over to his own bedroom door. Realizing for the first time that he was completely nude standing in the hallway where any idiot could see his body (including freakish Mrs. Briefs), Vegeta could feel embarrassment warring with the need to sob and the need to scream over his own stupidity in instigating the current fit Bulma was having. Frustrated and not making sure to keep his super strength in check, he slammed his fist onto the button that opened and closed his bedroom door. Unfortunately for him, the button wasn't made to withstand such a tremendous amount of pressure. With in milliseconds of impact, sparks and smoke started to fizzle out of the broken control making it impossible for Vegeta to get his door open. Roaring, he opened up his palm and shot a strong ki blast at it, covering his head and ducking when shards of metal and plastic ricocheted towards him from the impact. Straightening up, he surveyed the gaping hole he had made in his door. Stepping quickly through it, he almost tripped over his discarded training suit from yesterday. Kicking it out of his way, Vegeta walked towards his closet, noticing that his once neat and tidy room looked like a tornado had recently went through it. Pulling out his last pair of clean boxers, he slipped them on over his legs, looking in disgust at the pile of dirty clothing that was overflowing from his hamper. Making his way towards the bed, he tried to avoid the hot slag from the exploding door along with the numerous articles of clothing and training gear that were strewn haphazardly across his floor.

Sitting down, Vegeta put his head in his hands trying to figure out what exactly was happening to him. For probably the first time in his life, he wished that he wasn't the only surviving Saiyan who had spent some time on Vegetasai before its destruction at the hands of Frieza. Yes, he hated the fact that he and Kakarot were the only two full-blooded Saiyans left alive. That, however, wasn't the reason behind his current line of thinking. He was desperate to find answers to what was going on in his head and how they were related to his current mate's condition. Seething with frustration, he realized that even if Nappa and Raditz were still alive, they would be as much in the dark as he was. For all he could remember, neither Nappa or Raditz had ever produced offspring and even if they had prior to the destruction of Planet Vegeta, no Saiyan female had ever kept the fetus in their womb long enough to start going through whatever changes Bulma was currently experiencing. Sitting and thinking, feeling as though he were still in the process of losing his mind, an image of his rival popped into his head. Even though Kakarot hadn't grown up on Vegetasai, he did have a mate and offspring. Perhaps…

"What the hell am I thinking? I would rather crawl on my belly through worm infested feces than ask that dumbass anything as personal as bonding and…and…fuck!" Shaking his head, he couldn't believe that he had just contemplated putting aside his pride as the Prince of all Saiyans to ask a low class idiot like Kakarot for advice, especially when he wasn't even certain if Kakarot had bonded with that harridan he called wife. Standing up shakily, he decided the best way to clear his head was to take a nice, long shower. Looking over at the mess in his room, he could feel dread in the pit of his stomach beginning to form. It couldn't be a coincidence that Bulma's behaviors were starting to influence him.

Walking into his bathroom, he closed the door behind him and then went over to the shower, turning on the water to give it time to warm up. Removing the boxers he had just put on, he threw them next to the door. Stepping over to the mirror across from the shower, he wiped away the steam that was beginning to form as he stared at the face reflected back at him. Although his form had filled out remarkably well and his muscles seemed to have grown back to normal size since he had been back at Capsule Corporation, Vegeta could tell he did not look well. He had dark circles under his eyes, he felt tired and shaky almost all the time, and his practice sessions in the Gravity Room, while never a fun time, had become something like personal torture. In his mind, he had a feeling that he was having some sort of mental breakdown. Whether it was from his concentrated effort to keep Bulma's thoughts out of his head or her hormones that were instigating such a change, he didn't know. Letting a clawing desperation crawl out of his deep-seated anxiety, Vegeta found himself reacting violently to the image across from him. Smashing his hand into the mirror with his open palm, it splintered and shattered into hundreds of small pieces, shards hitting the floor with a melodious tinkle. Pulling his hand away from what was left of the looking glass, Vegeta watched in fascination as his blood made a spider web pattern across the broken surface, clinging to the cracks in the uneven surface as gravity took over and pulled it towards the floor. Pushing back slightly, he held his damaged hand in front of his face, observing as his warm blood made runnels down his arm, clinging to the hair as it splattered onto the tiled floor.

Vegeta welcomed the throbbing pain in his arm. It was an old trick he had used during his time serving Frieza as a child and as an adolescent. When things had started to become unbearable or confusing, he would bodily mutilate or injure himself so he could use his pain as a focal point to crawl away from and ignore the demons that ruled his life. Reverting back to such a primitive tactic was something only a desperate adult Vegeta would do. So such an action, while outwardly calming was setting off alarm gongs in his head. Moving towards the shower and ignoring the pain in his hand and arm, Vegeta avoided the sharp shards of glass that were scattered across the tile. Stepping inside, he shut the door to the shower and closed his eyes, letting the warm water seep across his skin.

He needed to do some serious thinking. Why was bonding reeking such havoc in his life? Wasn't it supposed to have gotten easier? He had shared his memories and past life with Bulma, they were connected to one another and…Vegeta let his mind trail off. It was such a ridiculous situation. Either Nappa hadn't known what he was talking about or being bonded to an alien that was not Saiyan had truly messed up the end result. Or maybe it was as simple as the fact that Vegeta was still fighting it. Whatever the reason, he couldn't allow himself to start thinking in that direction. He'd already found himself softening up towards Bulma and that was a major mistake. Ever since that first note she had left at his door, she had made it a point to leave one with him every single day afterwards. She never asked him about them, which was a blessed relief. If she ever found out that he actually read the damn things and had started saving them in an empty drawer in his dresser, he would never be able to live down the humiliation. It wasn't that he really cared about Bulma (at least not that he would ever admit to himself) but the fact was, he had grown up his entire life starving for attention and affection. Even though those two things were very un-Saiyan like, Vegeta found comfort in the fact that somebody found something redeeming in him. It was an altogether new and unsettling discovery, one in which he still wasn't sure about. Added on top of Bulma's mood swings, his mental barrier seemingly starting to crack, and the added confusion of his behavior starting to mirror and mimic Bulma's, he felt like he was standing at the edge of precipice and one strong breeze was going to blow him over the edge.

Pushing his thoughts to the back of his already over-crowded mind, Vegeta meticulously started to pull the embedded shards of glass out of his injured hand. Once that was done, he found a bottle of shampoo, putting a generous dollop into his hand. Throwing the bottle to the side, he started to lather up his hair, feeling the pain in his hand warring with the relaxation of a good scalp massage. Rinsing out his heavy, wet locks, he was about to start scrubbing down his body when he sensed a sudden change in Bulma's mood. Gritting his teeth unconsciously, he could feel that she was no longer crying and instead, a steely sense of determination had entered into her mind. Closing his eyes, in his mind, he could almost picture exactly what Bulma was doing through her stray thoughts and overpowering emotions. He knew the exact moment she left her room and went over to his, seeing the gapping hole in his door. He could feel her presence as she entered into his room in a fit of anger and concern. Part of him suddenly wanted to escape knowing that at any second, Bulma was going to burst into his isolated privacy, not caring that in his past life, had anyone else done something like that, they would most likely have been killed the instant they crossed his threshold. But he couldn't kill Bulma, even when he felt an almost overpowering desire to do so. Leaning up against the shower door, Vegeta waited patiently for the inevitable.

Bulma didn't even bother to knock as the quickly opened up Vegeta's bathroom door. How could he be such an idiot, blasting the door in his haste to get away from her? What if he had hurt himself? He wasn't acting like himself and Bulma was starting to truly become concerned when it came to her mate. She let out a sigh of relief when she heard the shower running and saw Vegeta's backside leaned up against the clear glass door of the shower. It wasn't until she got a good look at the mess in the bathroom that she felt her heart jump into her throat. There was blood…everywhere. It was splattered across the floor in little pools, dripping off of the white porcelain sink. And the mirror or what was left of it. It didn't take Bulma's genius brain much time to deduce what must have occurred but it was the reason behind it that bothered her. Vegeta could be destructive, but he never purposefully injured himself. That along with everything else really worried Bulma. Slowly making her way across the bloody floor to the shower, she stopped just outside the door.

"Vegeta. What is going on?" She watched as Vegeta minutely moved slightly away from the door he was leaning against. Listening as he let out a slight breath, she waited for his response, hoping he wasn't going to use the silent treatment on her.

"Just go away. I…I can't deal with you right now."

"What, you can't deal with me or you can't deal with yourself?" Not waiting for a reply since she figured he wasn't going to debase himself in front of her by actually answering her question, Bulma decided to take matters into her own hands. With a look of determination, she quickly stripped out of her nightgown and underwear, carefully placing them on top of the closed toilet so that they wouldn't get blood stained and dirty. Before Vegeta got a chance to react, she pulled open the shower door and stepped inside, ignoring her nervousness from acting in such a forward manner. So far, she and Vegeta had never showered together and there was the fact that he didn't look like he welcomed her presence.

Moving as far away as he could from her, Vegeta gave Bulma a hard stare before looking away.

"I thought I told you to go leave. Why is it that you never listen? What good do you think you will possibly do by interrupting my solitude?"

Bulma wanted to cry again, but not because of Vegeta's tone of voice. He looked so…so confused and helpless. All she wanted to do was help him. If he would only share with her what was going on inside of his head but he continued to shut her out and it was breaking her apart as much as it was slowly changing Vegeta. There was something seriously wrong with him. Stepping closer to her mate, she carefully examined his body, seeing the bloodied and damaged hand he tried to hide behind his backside. Hesitantly, she brushed her hand along his cheekbone, pushing back a lock of his hair that had fallen forward. He looked so different with his hair hanging halfway down his back; it was almost as though he was another person altogether. He closed his eyes at her touch, his breathing picking up almost perceivably. Bulma nearly jumped when his hand suddenly came up and clasped hers, pulling it away from his face but not letting it go.

"Vegeta, I just want to help you. Why won't you let me?" Bulma pleaded quietly.

"I don't need help. I'm perfectly able to handle myself. Besides, what could you possibly know about helping someone like me?"

Bulma's eyes widened at his implication. He thought he was beyond help, beyond saving, not worth anything to anybody even if couldn't outright admit to such low and depressed feelings. But why now all of a sudden? What was it about their current situation that was putting him over the edge, causing him to act irrationally?

"Vegeta…" Bulma didn't get a chance to finish what she was trying to say. Dropping her hand, he trailed his own up her body, stopping at her mouth where he put a silencing finger to her lips. Looking deeply into her eyes, he felt like he could get lost in them. What really was the matter with him? Was he really going mad, finally submitting himself to something that should have happened years ago? Wrenching his gaze from hers, he dropped his hand to his side, feeling like a fool for not throwing her out the minute she stepped inside the shower. But whom was he really kidding? He honestly didn't know what he wanted with her. At first, it had all been about mastery, making sure she knew he was the dominant one. But somewhere along the line, everything had been skewed so much so that he couldn't tell up from down any longer. He was so lost in his own tormented thoughts that he didn't sense Bulma move until he felt her gently take his damaged hand in her own grasp.

"Oh, Vegeta!" 'What have you done to yourself?' Bulma thought, trying to fight back the second round of tears that were pushing against her lower eyelids. Stupid hormones! Still, the state of his hand was serious. There were jagged tears and cuts all along the surface of his palm and fingers, wrapping slightly around to the back of his hand. If he were human, Bulma was sure that he would be currently suffering from a broken hand on top of the numerous cuts and abrasions. Examining it closely, she noticed that the wounds had been thoroughly cleaned but he was most likely going to need stitches and his hand would be scarred for life, much like the rest of his body which was littered with scars from injuries he sustained after Frieza was defeated while he was out in outer space looking for Goku.

Closing his eyes and letting out a sigh of defeat, Vegeta let Bulma prod his injured hand, feeling deep shame that she should see him in his current state. He was so damned vulnerable around her, especially lately when he didn't have as much control over his emotional state of mind. What had ever happened to the idea of things becoming easier? Pulling his hand out of her grip, he opened his eyes again and watched as the water flattened her hair and ran down her body, stopping when he took in her stomach. For the first time, he noticed that it wasn't quite flat anymore. Was that were his son was currently residing? Shaking his head for thinking such foolish thoughts, none of which were his concern, he decided it was time to get out of the shower before something else stupid happened to add onto the list of idiotic moves he had made so far this morning.

Looking at him with a mixture of pity and sadness, Bulma put her hand on Vegeta's arm as he tried to make his way around her in the small shower.

"Vegeta…your hand, it needs stitches."

Turning around and feeling his temper begin to rise because of the way she was looking at him, he clenched his hands into two perfectly formed fists, ignoring the pain coming from his damaged hand.

"I know it does Woman. I'm not an imbecile and I've dealt with injuries countless times in the past. So just leave it." By the time he was finished, he could tell that he had been yelling at her. "And don't you dare start acting like a baby with your pathetic tears! I cannot handle anymore of your ridiculous behavior." Pushing the door open, he stalked out of it, careful to avoid looking at Bulma's face although her feelings and thoughts were clear enough to him that he knew exactly what was going on inside her head. He needed space, away from her. Grabbing a towel, he avoided the mess around him, drying off his body as quickly as he could. Ignoring Bulma as best he could when she stepped out of his shower, he threw her a towel and quickly turned around. Making his way to the medicine cabinet, he pulled out some gauze and started to bandage his open wounds.

"I'll call downstairs and have a work bot sent up to clean the mess in here and your room." She was trying not to cry, but she couldn't help it. He was…he was such a jerk most of the time and she knew it was her pregnancy induced hormones that were causing her to react in such a manner. It would have been nice if her mate would be more understanding and kind but it was just her luck that she had ended up having Vegeta as the father of her first child. Picking up her clothes from the toilet, she slowly made her way out of Vegeta's room back to her own. Lying down on her bed, she felt miserable. Miserable because she couldn't help Vegeta. Miserable because he wouldn't talk to her. Miserable because she had finally realized how much she cared for him and he didn't return the feeling. Little did she know that what she thought wasn't the case and that it was partially responsible for Vegeta's instability.

How was it possible to feel…to feel love for somebody who for all intents and purposes didn't return the feeling or even know how to begin? Yet Bulma was convinced that somehow, even though Vegeta treated her like dirt the majority of the time, she did love him, or at least, she cared enough about him to feel a sense of concern and worry for his safety and well being. Letting out a sniffle, feeling her tears mingle with the water dripping from her wet hair, Bulma wrapped her arms around her pillow and tried to stifle her feelings of misery.

She didn't know how long she lay in her bed before she decided to get up and face the day head on. Putting her hand to the back of her neck, she massaged the crick that had formed there. Rolling over and sitting up, she felt the towel wrapped around her body slide down, partially exposing her breasts which had started to become more sensitive and…larger. She almost laughed thinking about how shapely she was becoming and how she could use it to her advantage with Vegeta when reality decided to rear its ugly face and smack her in the head. Hitching up her towel, she pushed her messed up hair back out of her face and looked at the clock, surprised to see that almost two hours had passed since she had woken up with Vegeta in her bed.

Vegeta. She was worried about him. It was almost scary how much he was starting to act like her, even mimicking her mood swings and her pregnancy induced somatic symptoms such as light headedness and cravings for bizarre foods. Just the other day, her mother had mentioned to her about how he had come in from training and the only thing he ate was a huge serving of peanut butter and anchovy sandwiches, something that Bulma had suddenly begun to crave, even though the combination was completely revolting. Deciding to get a move on her day, Bulma got out of bed and went into her bathroom, brushing out her tangled hair. Throwing the dirty towel in the corner, she went over to her closet and got dressed, noticing that she was definitely going to need to buy maternity cloths, as her pants were becoming too tight around her mid-section. Checking herself out in the mirror, she turned to the side and looked at her belly, pulling her shirt tight against the small bump that was beginning to form. Laughing at how ridiculous she was acting, she stopped suddenly, thinking about the weight of the situation that she was dealing with Vegeta.

Leaving her room, she let her thoughts wander to his behavior earlier. It wasn't the first time in the last couple of months that she had caught him acting strangely. Today had just been the worst. The first time she had truly noticed his uncharacteristic behavior had been almost a month ago. She had been in an extremely jubilant mood, just coming back from the obstetrician with her first sonogram of her baby. Walking past the Gravity Room, she had been singing a stupid song she had heard on the radio at the top of her lungs. She was almost around the front of the spaceship when she heard the door open and the sound of an unmistakable baritone voice humming loudly the tune she had just been singing. Walking back around slowly in case her ears were deceiving her, she ran into Vegeta who had…a small smile on his face while he continued to hum the song from in the car. Of course, as soon as he saw her, his scowl was back in place and he acted twice as rude as he normally did. But the damage was already done. Bulma was at least smart enough not to bring it up again in front of the temperamental Prince. Then there was the fact that his usually meticulous room had begun to resemble her own, added to today's accidental bed swapping and Vegeta's extra moodiness, it was all very unsettling.

Walking past his room, she shuddered at the remains of his door. Wondering where he was going to sleep tonight since the door wouldn't be fixed until tomorrow, Bulma figured they could always put him in another spare bedroom. Walking thoughtfully down the stairs, Bulma decided to stop in the kitchen to grab something to eat before she went down to the lab. As she opened the kitchen door, she suddenly felt like she should be somewhere else when she saw Vegeta sitting at the table shoveling something into his mouth. Still, she was already there and it wasn't in her nature to run from a bad situation unless it was truly life threatening.

Stepping past the fridge and over to the sink where her prenatal vitamins were stored, she poured herself a glass of water and swallowed the horse pills, feeling the awkwardness of her and Vegeta's current situation. Trying to act nonchalantly, she went over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice, a bagel and some honey-nut cream cheese. Pouring herself a glass of orange juice, she turned around at the kitchen island and looked at Vegeta as she waited for her bagel to toast. Letting her eyes wander across his gorgeous body, they stopped on the hand that he had cut open earlier that morning. Seeing that it had been bandaged professionally, she was relieved to note that he had gone to the infirmary, something he didn't do unless she cajoled him into it, saying he was more than capable of self-treating his injuries, something he must have had to do while he worked for Frieza.

"So, ah, Vegeta, is your hand feeling better?" Bulma asked, not being able to think of anything else to talk about. Instead of answering her, Vegeta tore off a huge chunk of bread he was holding in his head, chewing it loudly. Sighing at his blatant rudeness, Bulma walked over to the toaster, pulling her bagel out before it started to burn. Spreading the cream cheese across it, she walked back over to the island, choosing to stand and eat rather than sit across from her moody and unbalanced partner.

Taking a bite of her breakfast food, Bulma savored the cream cheese as it slid across her tongue. Swallowing her first bite, she put it down and observed Vegeta. He was eating at a faster than normal rate, almost mechanically. His eyes were focused straight ahead of him and his legs were fidgeting nervously underneath the table. Frowning at his neurotic behavior, Bulma decided to try and pull him out of whatever it was he was focusing on.

"How come you're eating in here right now? You usually don't come in for another couple of hours." 'Wow Bulma, your conversation skills have hit an all time low,' she thought to herself as she waited for a possible reply.

Swallowing another mouthful of bread and slugging down a half-gallon of milk, Vegeta cocked his head slightly in Bulma's direction.

"I'm hungry."

'Ooh, and Vegeta's conversation skills have become non-existent. Great!'

"Well Mr. Smart Alec, I could have deduced _that_ on my own. Honestly, you could at least try to be somewhat conversational."

Slamming the milk jug down on the table with an audible smack, Vegeta turned around and snarled.

"Shut your damn mouth! I did not come in here to listen to you and your stupid ideas. I'm here to eat and then I'm leaving to train."

Unconsciously stepping back from the island, Bulma calmly put her juice glass down. "Okay Vegeta. I'm sorry. You don't have to get so testy." He was starting to scare her again, and it had been so long since she had been frightened by him that she wasn't accustomed to the feeling anymore. Letting out a shaky sigh when he turned back around and resumed his eating, Bulma picked up her orange juice and took a calming sip. Leaning over the counter top, she noticed a magazine her mother must have left in the kitchen after she had finished cooking this morning. Smiling slightly, she saw that it was one of those stupid magazines about preparing yourself for having a child. Looking at the cover, she saw that her mother had circled an article about being fashionable when you looked like whale. Flipping it open, she leaned her upper torso against the counter, regretting it as soon as her breasts pressed against it, feeling the discomfort from their, ah, super sensitivity. Standing up, she was about to discretely rub them when she caught Vegeta out of the corner of her eye doing exactly what she had just thought of through his muscle shirt. That's when it finally clicked in Bulma's mind that Vegeta was not only exhibiting signs of her pregnancy induced behavior, but he was actually going through some of the same things she was. And that was a terrifying thought.

"Um, Vegeta, what are you doing?"

Looking over at Bulma, he realized with sudden clarity what he was doing, touching himself in front of his woman like a Neanderthal. Blushing slightly, he slowly put his hands down to his sides, choosing to ignore her. God damn it, but he was about ready to explode. Unfortunately for him, Bulma didn't know when enough was enough. Walking around the island, she pulled out the chair across from him and sat down, watching him carefully with her big, blue eyes.

"Vegeta, I think…I think we need to talk about some things and I think that you need to be honest with me. Whatever you are going through, I'm here for you. I know you don't like to hear stuff like that, but it's true. It would be nice if once and a while, you would respect me as an individual capable of listening to whatever it is that's going on in your head. I've gone through some strange periods in my life and if it wasn't for somebody listening to me when I really needed to vent, I don't know where I would be today. So all I'm saying is that if you want to talk, I'll listen and it'll stay with me. Please."

Pushing his chair back abruptly, Vegeta stood up hurriedly, not wanting to face down Bulma or her offer. He wasn't weak and she was acting like he was a pathetic fool. Worse, for one second, he'd actually contemplated breaking down his prideful barriers to let her in on some of what was bothering him, some of his fears, and yes, his feelings. But he could not give up that kind of control over his life and so he reacted the way he did whenever he felt threatened. He acted out of anger.

Walking around the table to where she was seated, he slammed his uninjured fist down onto the tabletop, watching as Bulma visibly jumped out of fear in her chair. Pushing down his guilt in startling his pregnant mate, Vegeta tried to look intimidating, which wasn't a very hard thing for the small Saiyan to be able to do.

"What makes you think that I would ever lower myself into talking to you about my so called problems? When will you ever learn that what I say, I mean? I don't want your help. I don't want your pity and I sure as hell am not going to tell you what is bothering me because nothing is! I..._am…not_…**_weak_**!" Taking a step back, he was about to turn around and leave the kitchen when Bulma spoke up behind him.

"Vegeta, I never said you were weak. I've never equated working out problems with weakness. But you _are_ bothered by something and you aren't acting normally, even for yourself. Why is it so hard to let somebody in?"

Spinning around, he put his arms on either side of Bulma's body, lowering himself so that they were face to face.

"Because if I let you in, you can use such a submission on my part as a power wielding tool and I refuse to let myself be in anyone's power, not even yours." He had spent his whole life being used as a tool and that was what terrified him the most about his developing feelings in regards to Bulma. It could be because of her pregnancy, but some of what he was dealing with was related to the fact that he felt a need to express what he was going through to her. He couldn't deal effectively with his uncertainty and supposed weakness for Bulma since had never had such feelings before in his life.

Putting her hand on one of his arms, Bulma swallowed down her fear, telling herself that he wouldn't hurt her. Looking into his angry and terrified gaze, Bulma found herself wanting to weep for him again. His life must have been more horrible than what she had seen the night they had bonded for him to have such a difficult time putting trust into anybody, even the person he was supposedly predestined to mate with from the beginning.

"I know you've suffered in the past. But I am not like those people." Bulma whispered softly.

Pulling away from her, Vegeta scoffed. "What do you know about suffering? What do you know about anything other than the petty day to day shit you deal with? You know nothing Bulma." 'And you should be glad that you don't.' Vegeta thought as he turned his face away from hers.

"You're probably right. I really don't know what true suffering is. But everyone goes though periods in their life that are rough, even people like me. Just at least tell me something Vegeta."

She just wouldn't let up, no matter how many times he told her to leave things as they were. Part of him was grateful that she seemed to have so much vested in him, but the majority of him was confused and vexed by her continual refusal to leave him and his uncertainty alone. Well, if she wanted to find out the truth that badly, he would tell it to her but in such a way that would make her regret ever trying to pry into his private hell.

Moving his face back in her direction, he watched her as she gave him a tentative smile, thinking he was possibly coming to her for 'help.'

"Do you really want to know something? Fine, I'll give you a slice of insight into my twisted mind." Smirking malevolently at Bulma, Vegeta crossed his arms, careful to avoid hurting his injured hand.

Bulma looked over at Vegeta uneasily. She knew that look and it didn't bode well for her. The only time she ever saw him like that was when she knew he was going to say something that she wasn't going to like. But she had put her cards out onto the table and she couldn't back down from this sort of challenge.

Seeing Bulma's expression change from an uneasy smile to one of dread, Vegeta couldn't help letting out a sadistic chuckle even though inwardly, he knew what he was about to do to Bulma was wrong. Why it should bother him was beyond his limited knowledge of emotions, but it did. Still, he could not back down, not when he had such limited control over his emotional well being as of late.

"What's wrong with me Bulma? You should already know the answer. It's you Bulma, it's all you."

_Well, what does this mean for Bulma? How will she react? And Vegeta? To find out, you'll have to stay tuned for the next chapter. Again, I hope you didn't mind the somewhat more serious tone of this chapter. It's just how it ended up coming out as I was typing. Please read and review and let me know what you think._


	23. Chapter 23

_Sorry I left you guys with a cliffie, but it seemed like a good place to stop, otherwise Chapter 22 would have been exceedingly long. So here is the continuation. I hope it's not redundant and I again am sorry if the tone is serious overall. Also, thanks to Bulma and Vegeta fan, SilverWing145, Saiya-jin Queen, Kendal, Hatake Umino Nezumi, Miu 09, Happy Clam, Chazie, Pearl3, koolkat01, and Nikki for taking the time to leave me a review. It's so very kind of you!_

_Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ_

_Chapter 23_

Bulma swallowed, making herself look into Vegeta's hard gaze and cynical twisted smile as he pronounced to her that everything he was currently dealing or not dealing with could be laid at her feet. It was such utter and complete bullshit in her opinion but that didn't stop the barbed cruelty in his words from stabbing deep into her heart. Why was he doing this to her? Was he trying to make her cry? Or was he trying to drive her away? Well, if that's what he was planning on doing, he should have done it long before they had gone past the point of no return, before she had ever become pregnant. Because whether he liked it or not, they were stuck together for better or worse, for the rest of their lives. Thinking about how stupid he was acting when in reality, it was he who had told her all about the non-reversibility of bonding with someone, she felt her deep hurt begin to transform into an emotion that Vegeta could definitely understand in his twisted mind: fury.

She wasn't going to back out of this without a fight. It had been a long time since she had felt such hostility and anger towards her mate, but he had it coming to him. How _dare_ he act like she was nothing more than a nuisance! Didn't he realize how much she needed him? Not because she was weak or unable to care for herself but because she cared about the arrogant prick and all she got in return was his unrelenting anger and bitterness. Even if things had seemed to improve between them on the outside, Vegeta was so full of conflicting emotions and uncertainty that Bulma supposed it was about time he cracked somewhat under the pressure of trying to suppress things that couldn't very well be suppressed. However, she was not going be the whipping boy for his emotional turmoil and whatever it was that their bond was doing to him, allowing him to feel and experience the wonderful and annoying sensation of carrying a child along with her roller coaster emotions. _And _she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of screaming match either. Letting her anger simmer beneath the surface of her skin, Bulma looked straight into Vegeta's eyes, her blue ones piercing him with a look that could freeze boiling water. She almost smirked when she saw his cruel mouth hitch slightly downward and when his left foot began to tap absently, a sure sign that he was suddenly uncertain. But a smirk would be a dead give away, and for once, she was going to have the upper hand over Vegeta, not the other way around.

Looking over at Bulma uneasily, Vegeta suddenly wondered if he was going to be sorry for opening his mouth. If he could name the look that Bulma was giving him at the moment, he would pin it as feral. Seeing such a look on her was unsettling, especially since she was staring him down with such…such intensity. When had she gotten so powerful over him that one look could make him want to turn and run the other way? Realizing yet again that their stupid bond was reeking havoc with his mind, he wanted to pull his hair out in frustration or smash something else into oblivion. Anything to relieve him of the pressure that was going on in his head. Why wasn't she screaming at him or sobbing? What the hell was her problem? He had just given her an ultimatum of sorts, one that any Earth woman in their right mind would have been hysterical about, yet Bulma just sat there staring at him viciously, trying to eat away at his mind. Grabbing his head in his hands, Vegeta squeezed his eyes shut, trying to drown the voices in his head that told him he was losing his mind and soul to the woman sitting across from him. He wanted to howl in frustration or tear something apart piece by piece. And Bulma wasn't giving him the satisfaction of a release by letting him get rid of some of his pent up aggravation through an indulgent screaming match. God's above, what the hell was wrong with him? Quelling the swirling thoughts in his head, shoving them to the overcrowded back of his mind, Vegeta suddenly let go of his head and took in a deep breath. He was acting like a psycho and that was not a good sign, especially in front of Bulma. Straightening up slightly, he backed up another foot and glanced over to where Bulma was still reclining. Watching her warily, his eyes narrowed when he realized that she no longer looked like a vengeful goddess. Instead, she looked like regular old Bulma with a look of deep concern flooding her face and eyes.

"Stop it! Do not pity me!" Vegeta lashed out angrily. Fuck, he apparently couldn't handle her anger, but he definitely could and _would_ not be pitied. At least, not by her.

Standing up quickly, Bulma shoved her chair against the wall and made her way over to where Vegeta was standing. Her anger had been reduced somewhat, especially when she saw Vegeta visibly try to get a hold of himself by grabbing onto his head and shaking it violently. That could not be normal at all. Now, she was just anxious and he was making it all the worse by acting so haunted and desperate. She was slightly surprised when he didn't try to retreat away from her, allowing her to take his face gently into her cupped hands.

"Vegeta, I don't pity you. You're too strong for that. I care about you though, more than you probably even realize. And this behavior…it's not normal. You need help whether you will admit to it or not." Bulma said in a soothing voice. She was surprised at how calm she sounded when in fact, she was extremely afraid that Vegeta was about to lose what little control he had over himself and explode in righteous fury. Letting out a breath of relief when Vegeta's muscles in his body also seemed to relax on their own accord in her presence, Bulma dropped her hands from his face and wrapped her arms around him in an embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. Her show of affection was short lived though. As soon as she placed her head on his shoulder in a sign of submission, Vegeta tensed up like a taught wire, roughly pushing her away from him. Stumbling backwards, Bulma caught herself before she fell gracelessly to the floor, grabbing onto the wall behind her for support, watching Vegeta with a mixture of wariness and disappointment that he was still unwilling to share with her what was making him act out so uncharacteristically.

Seeing Bulma almost fall over from his rough treatment of her, Vegeta quelled down the rising feeling of guilt as he moved even further away from her. "I need space Woman. I'm not a baby that needs to be coddled. I am a Saiyan Warrior and you seem to have forgotten that somewhere along the line."

With that said, he quickly turned on his heels and strode outside to his waiting Gravity Room, wanting to attack himself for being such a coward. Walking briskly up to the door, he unlocked it and stomped inside. Shutting the door behind him, he closed his eyes and let out another deep breath. He wasn't going to get any training done with his mental barrier breached and the myriad of thoughts and uncertainties still running rampant through his mind. Settling himself onto the cold, metallic floor of the Gravity Room, he crossed his legs and arms and began to concentrate on meditating, repairing as much damage as he could. He needed to calm down and think rationally, and so far, all he'd managed to do all day was work himself up into such a state that he wounded himself on purpose and then let his frayed nerves get the better of him in a confrontation with his mate. Swallowing visibly, he realized at that moment how out of control and confused he was feeling and that these feelings had been spiraling out of control for months now. How the hell was he supposed to fight the Androids and beat Kakarot in his current state of mind? He hadn't felt so unsure of himself since he had gone through the period in his life under Frieza which had irreparably changed and molded him into the man he had become, when he had been no older than a boy of twelve or thirteen. He didn't even realize it, but thinking of the past was bringing up old wounds and fears that he had suppressed successfully for years. Unknowingly, tears were starting to leak out of the corners of his eyes. It wasn't until he felt one drip onto his crossed arms that Vegeta realized exactly how stressed he had become. Slamming his fist into the floor in frustration over his lack of control, he focused on the image of a burning flame in his mind, pushing everything else that had been surfacing lately to the outskirts of his head. He had to get back in control. He had to because if he didn't, he had no idea how long he could live with himself.

_Meanwhile…_

Steadying herself against the wall she was hugging with her backside, Bulma watched sadly as Vegeta angrily stalked out of the kitchen to his precious Gravity Room. God, she didn't know what to do with him. It was like trying to get through a brick wall without the benefit of a sledgehammer. He was suffering and it was more than obvious to her yet he was too proud and arrogant to let her in, even after all these months. And she knew with certainty that it all came from his years of abuse under that bastard Frieza. If she could meet that jerk face on, she would give him a piece of her mind and a tongue-lashing that he would never forget. Unfortunately for her, Frieza had died by the hand of that mysterious kid from the future who had warned them of the impending threat of the Androids, so she would never get her chance to avenge Vegeta's past.

Standing up straight, she went back over to the island where her partially eaten bagel and orange juice were sitting. Drinking the rest of her juice, she realized that she didn't feel hungry anymore so she tossed her cold breakfast into the garbage can under the sink. Pushing her hair, which had lost much of its perm, behind her ears, Bulma crossed her arms and leaned against the sink trying to think up a solution that would get Vegeta to open up a little and help their floundering relationship. Tapping her fingers on her arms, she realized the only way he would ever open up to her is if he allowed himself the luxury of trusting her and so far, that was something that still hadn't happened. But perhaps…

Snapping her fingers, Bulma stood up straighter.

"Of course! Bulma, you are such a genius!" Letting out a little laugh, she made her way to the phone and started to dial a number. Maybe he wouldn't open up to her and tell her what he was experiencing, but perhaps, he would let down his guard to someone who was like him. Tapping her foot impatiently as the phone rang, she was relieved when she heard someone pick it up.

"Hello? It's me, Bulma. No, nothings wrong. But there is someone I would like to speak with. It's sort of like this…"

_A few hours later…_

Vegeta had meditated for two hours before he finally felt in enough control that he could concentrate on training and not whatever it was that Bulma was feeling at the moment. Turning up the gravity, he was in the middle of doing a warm-up set of five hundred finger push-ups, when he sensed a very large and very familiar power level heading his way. Ignoring it, he continued on with his training until the view screen Bulma had installed so she could nag at him suddenly flashed on. Letting out a hiss of aggravation, Vegeta bent his head upwards so he could see the smug face of his baka mate.

"Hey Vegeta, why don't you come in and take a break? You've been in there for close to three hours now."

Growling, he ignored her and continued on with his exercises. What the hell was her problem? Most of the time, he was in the Gravity Room for six hour stretches without taking a break and she had never once interrupted his training to get him to come inside except for the time when he was recovering from blowing up the Gravity Room.

"Yo, Vegeta! Earth to Vegeta! Ugh, you are being an obstinate bonehead. You could at least acknowledge me, you pea-brain, hormone driven primate!"

Turning his head upwards, he bared his teeth at her before replying.

"I only acknowledge those who I find to be somewhat superior to myself and you are no where near that realm. So piss off and leave me alone!" He smirked when he saw the look of outrage for being called a lowlife flash across Bulma's cheeks as a hint of red.

Putting her hands on her hips, Bulma shot him a dirty look before she continued on with her ranting.

"Fine, act like a pig. If you won't come in, then I'll just walk over there, open up the outside override system and permanently disable your precious room."

Sweating slightly, Vegeta wasn't sure if she was bluffing, but he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that.

"You wouldn't dare Woman!"

"Is that all the better you can come up with? Well, you really don't know me if you don't think I will. I helped build the dumb thing and I can help shut it down too. So if you don't want to find out what I'm capable of doing to your stupid simulator, then you had better get your ass moving and in here by the time I count to ten. One…two…."

Flipping over onto his feet, Vegeta stood up and scowled angrily, giving Bulma the lewd hand gesture known as the finger to let her know exactly how displeased he was for being ordered from his training by a weakling like her.

"Fine! But don't think I'll be so easily cowed into doing your bidding from now on." With that, he shut off the damned TV screen and disabled the gravity, waiting for his body to get used to the lightness of Earth's normal gravity before he exited his training area. Marching quickly to the main house, Vegeta decided that Bulma had better have a legitimate reason for pulling him away from his training because otherwise, there was going to be hell to pay. Opening the door to the kitchen, he stalked in, not at all surprised to see Kakarot sitting at the table stuffing his face with whatever it was that Bulma had placed in front of him as a peace offering.

"Hey Vegeta!" Goku waved happily as he swallowed the enormous sandwich Bulma had made him. But instead of being courteous enough to at least nod his head in acknowledgement, Vegeta ignored him and turned around to face Bulma with a look on his face that clearly said he was most displeased.

"Is this why you had me come in here? To entertain that moron over there? Where the hell is your common sense baka? If I can't even deal…You and your family drive me to distraction enough as it is but that baka over there…Ugh, why do I even waste my time trying to fathom your thinking?" Frustrated because he couldn't even manage to get out a simple sentence in front of Bulma without revealing his weakness, Vegeta angrily made an about face, turning so that he was facing the third class who was eating his food and sitting at his table.

"Kakarot, get the hell out of here before I blast your ass to the next dimension."

Goku polished off his sandwich and wiped his hands messily onto the fabric of his orange gi shirt. Standing up slowly, it wasn't difficult for him to figure out that Vegeta was in a poor state of mind and he was probably more or less serious about trying to kill him, even though it would be a futile effort on his part. The last thing he wanted was a physical confrontation with the enraged smaller Saiyan in front of a worried and concerned looking Bulma.

"Come on Vegeta, don't you want to spar with me? It'll be really challenging?" Goku asked, trying to keep his normal goofy demeanor intact even though he was probably even more worried about Vegeta's well being than Bulma was.

As soon as Vegeta had walked through the door, he could sense an almost swirling array of intense, conflicting feelings around his Prince. Goku knew that Vegeta was an expert at keeping his true feelings hidden and if he could sense such agony through his Saiyan telepathy, he was suddenly afraid that Vegeta was going to do some irreparable damage to either himself or to Bulma. And that's why he was here: to help his friend gain control of himself again. But it wasn't going to be an easy task and he wasn't even sure if he would be successful at it. Bulma hadn't really said too much about her relationship with Vegeta, but Goku already knew that out of all his friends, she was the closest to the surly man standing in front of him. And if she couldn't get him to open up, he wasn't exactly sure why she thought he could. Vegeta still considered him an enemy even if they were temporarily allied with one another. Still, Goku had an almost childlike optimism when it came to dealing with serious problems and so it was to his benefit that he believed that there had to be someway to get through to Vegeta. He suddenly watched warily as Vegeta's left eye began to twitch in agitation.

"No, I do not want to dirty myself by facing off against a worthless third class fighter who doesn't know his place. Now leave!" At this point, Vegeta was shouting at him, looking as though he were about to leap across the table that separated them so he could get a stranglehold grip on his neck. Unconsciously, Goku backed up a bit, suddenly nervous over the unpredictability of Vegeta's actions. It definitely reminded of the time months ago when he had rescued him out in the mountains at the request of Bulma. So here he was again, suckered into helping someone as mentally unbalanced as Vegeta at the request of Bulma for the second time. He was slightly relieved when he saw Bulma move from where she was standing, placing a restraining hand on Vegeta's upper arm. It was amazing how brave Bulma could be sometimes because Goku thought that if he were in her shoes, he would have probably run the other way.

Putting her hand gently on Vegeta's arm, Bulma could feel the tightness of Vegeta's muscles as he tried to reign in his temper. "Come on Vegeta, Goku just wants to burn off some of his energy and seeing as you're one of the strongest fighters on the planet, it makes sense that he'd want to duke it out with you. Is that so bad?" She was slightly disappointed when he yanked his arm out of her grasp, unwilling to allow her nearness to calm down his anger at being yanked unceremoniously out of the Gravity Room in front of the dimwitted Saiyan standing across from them.

Not looking Bulma in the face Vegeta spoke through clenched teeth.

"If he's so willing to throw his life away, then fine, I'll spar with the baka. But don't act self-righteous and condescending if he comes in here bloody and missing a few limbs since you're the one who instigated this ridiculous set-up." Glowering at Kakarot, Vegeta pointed his thumb behind him towards the door, and left in a huff with a sheepish looking Goku following him out on his tail.

Before he got to the door, Bulma snagged Goku by the arm, inadvertently reigning the bigger man in.

"Goku, I don't know if you're going to be much help, but he's…he's not himself lately and I think it's partially my fault. I don't know if he'll tell you anything, but at least let him burn off some of his nervous energy. He needs some sort of outlet for his aggression. Just don't let him hurt you too badly or I won't be able to live with myself."

Taking his hand and placing it under Bulma's chin, he lifted her face so that he was looking into her eyes. Smiling slightly, he wished that there were some way he could reassure Bulma that everything between her and Vegeta would work out, but even he wasn't sure about that. Mirai Trunks had said that Bulma and Vegeta had gotten together out of passion and he didn't know how capable Vegeta was about opening himself up to anyone unless he felt it was a last resort. But he wasn't going to give up on his friends and he could already see in Bulma's misty eyes that she had most likely given her heart to the arrogant Prince of all Saiyans, even if she still didn't realize it herself.

"Look Bulma, I honestly don't know how much help I'm going to be here. Vegeta has to come to terms with himself and his emotions before he can open up to anyone else and quite frankly, I know for a fact that besides disliking me, Vegeta probably trusts me about as far as he can throw me. But I give you my word as your friend that I'll try my best. That's all any of us can do. He is hurting Bulma and I think he has been for a long time. Sometimes, the things we deal with in life aren't easy and we become so used to pushing down our true feelings that when a time comes for us to let someone else into our lives, we find it impossible to do so without wondering if we are giving up who we thought we were to begin with. It's scary to give control over to someone else, even if we care deep down inside for that person. Just give it time Bulma and things will work out if they're meant to." With that, he dropped her chin and stepped away, wondering if he'd somehow crossed a line he shouldn't have by touching Bulma.

Looking over at Goku, Bulma smiled and felt hope for the first time in a while. He had the habit of coming across as being not too bright, but sometimes, he showed such insight into situations that her genius brain had a hard time grasping, she wondered if his laissez-faire attitude was nothing more than a farce.

"Thanks Goku for being there when we need you. I don't know what I would have done if I had never met you as a kid. Just make sure Vegeta realizes what a true friend you are and beat some sense into his stubborn, rock hard head for me, okay?"

Scratching behind his head, Goku could feel a blush creeping across his cheekbones. It was rare for Bulma to be so complementary and it tickled his ego somewhat to feel like he was needed by someone other then for his brute strength. Now if he could only get Vegeta to see things like that, he'd have it made. Waving to her slightly, he turned around and hurried out the door, realizing that Vegeta was probably going to more than a little pissed off by the delay since he hadn't wanted to spar in the first place. Hurrying over to the Gravity Room, he knocked on the door, not realizing that there was a communication link attacked to the outside. Thankfully, Vegeta had sensitive hearing like himself, so in only a few seconds, the door slid open revealing an extremely aggravated and furious Vegeta.

"You have a lot of nerve coming over here Kakarot, insisting on sparring with me and then ditching me to talk with that infuriating female. If sparring was that important to you, you should have followed me out here like an obedient dog. Since, however, your small brain isn't capable of figuring something as simple as common courtesy out, you are on your own. Now leave!"

"No Vegeta. I'm sorry I didn't follow you straight out here, but Bulma sort of detained me. You know how she is." Goku said, hoping his statement would work towards his benefit. All it did though was aggravate Vegeta even more.

"Why the hell would you think I know anything about that idiotic servant woman? I am a Prince and I certainly do not let her foolish moods or attitudes sway me in the least." This of course, was bald-faced lie, but the last thing Vegeta needed was for Kakarot to figure out how much of a pansy ass he'd become around a weak and powerless person like Bulma. Deciding it wasn't worth fighting Kakarot over, Vegeta jerked his head towards the inside of the Gravity Room, turning his back on the bigger Saiyan as he made his way over to the control panel. Not bothering to warn Goku, he powered up the simulator to 200 times Earth's normal gravity.

"Gravity initialized to 200 times." The computer's voice chimed out as the force in the room began to increase.

Goku began to sweat slightly when he felt the pressure starting to apply itself to his body. He hadn't practiced in anything above Earth's gravity since he had flown to Namek, which had been a very long time ago. His eyes widened in amazement as he watched Vegeta start doing warm up punches and kicks without even looking like the immense pressure was getting to him. As it was, it was taking all of Goku's concentration not to feel the strain of the gravity on his muscles as he also tried to warm up. So intense was his concentration, he didn't notice Vegeta's change in stance until it was too late. Without warning, he felt a booted foot come crashing into his face, flipping him over twice before he hit the side of the Gravity Room. Standing up, Goku wiped the blood that was flowing from his split lip off with the back of his hand.

"You could have warned me Vegeta."

"Huh, why waste my time? You're nothing more than my personal punching bag today Kakarot. Be grateful I didn't throw a ki blast at your pathetic hide. Now get ready."

Before Goku could react, Vegeta was in front of him, punching him in the gut with incredible force. Phasing out of the way, Goku got himself out of the corner, only to be confronted with Vegeta's knee to his groin. But this time, he was better prepared and was able to block the cheap shot before Vegeta could do irreparable damage to his family jewels. Still, Goku felt like he was barely holding his own and Vegeta was fighting with the intensity of a mad man. Bulma certainly hadn't been kidding about Vegeta's pent up aggression. The man was fighting with skill nothing short of amazing to Goku in such strong gravity. He had certainly come along way from the half-starved wreck he had rescued out in the wilderness months before. It probably was even more beneficial to Vegeta that they were fighting on his turf and he had the home field advantage. Whatever it was, Goku had a feeling that he was going to need a senzu bean when their sparring session was over with.

It went on for what seemed like hours. Goku got in quite a few punches of his own so Vegeta was sporting more than a few cuts and bruises along with the peculiar bandages wrapped around his right hand. But he was at the point of complete and total exhaustion, and Vegeta still looked like he could go on for hours. Weakly trying to block a punch that was coming in towards his face, Goku collapsed on the floor and put his hands up in defeat, hoping that Vegeta would take the hint. The only way he could beat Vegeta was if he transformed into a Super Saiyan, and he knew that such a choice could only be used in extreme circumstances with Vegeta, who was more than likely still resentful over the fact that he had yet to master it.

"What's wrong Kakarot? Can't stand a little gravity? The mighty Super Saiyan has had enough? Well, I'm not finished with you yet." Vegeta mocked Goku as he stood imperiously over the body of the prone Saiyan sprawled across the metal floor of the Gravity Simulator. Stepping over his body, Vegeta grabbed Goku's torn gi and lifted him to his feet. Holding onto him in an upright position, he pulled his arm back and nailed Goku in the gut with so much force that blood splurted out of the larger man's mouth, splattering across Vegeta's spandex training suit and onto the floor. Letting out a growl of disgust, Vegeta dropped Goku and stepped away, walking over to the simulator to turn the gravity back to normal.

"You're pathetic Kakarot." Vegeta said as he sat down on his haunches near to where Goku was panting and trying to sit himself up. "And you call yourself a warrior. How do you expect to beat those big, bad Androids if you can't even handle your nemesis?" With that said, he casually slapped Goku upside his head in a demeaning gesture as he waited for the idiot to answer him.

Swallowing the metallic blood that was in his mouth, Goku pushed himself up against the wall, grateful that Vegeta had turned the gravity back to normal. "Well Vegeta, they aren't going to be fighting me in 200 times gravity now are they? Besides, I can…" Goku trailed off his sentence but it was too late. By the look on Vegeta's face, he knew exactly what Goku had been about to say and that was definitely still a sore spot with the Saiyan Prince.

Clenching his teeth, Vegeta wanted to blast Goku for his insolence. "Why don't you finish what you were going to say Kakarot? You can turn Super Saiyan? Well, I have news for you. If that brat from the future could turn Super Saiyan, what good do you think it will do you? He wouldn't have wasted his time coming back here to warn us if the power of a Super Saiyan was all it would take to defeat them, now would he? Huh, Super Saiyan indeed. More like Super Moron." With that said, Vegeta stood up and walked away from Goku, intent on ignoring the idiotic baka who was so un-saiyan like it was revolting. How could someone like him surpass the mighty Prince? It just wasn't fair no matter how Vegeta looked at it.

Standing up and groaning with the pain that was radiating across his battered body, Goku moved towards where Vegeta was glowering at him standoffishly.

"Well Vegeta, with that kind of an attitude, I wonder why you even bother training in here at all? I mean, if you don't think we have a chance of winning, why are you really even here?" Goku watched warily as Vegeta's eyes suddenly took on a deadly glitter. He had definitely touched on a nerve, perhaps the one that had Bulma so concerned.

"What the hell do you know about it? I have my reasons for staying and they are my own. I have no clue if we have a chance at beating those monsters or not. I frankly could care less. The only reason I'm here is so I can beat you Kakarot, kill you like I should have done when I first arrived here on this stinking dung heap of a planet." Turning away from Goku, Vegeta wanted to scream in frustration. There were more reasons besides beating Kakarot's ass into an early grave but…No, he would not allow himself to think like that! He was so preoccupied with his thoughts, he didn't notice Kakarot had moved until he felt the larger Saiyan put a hand on his shoulder. Turning around quickly, he slapped the offensive hand off of his body.

"Do not presume to touch me!"

"Sorry Vegeta, but you looked like you needed to be brought back to reality there for a second. Anyway, if the only reason you're sticking around is so you can kill me, you could have easily done so today. You were kicking my butt in here and I couldn't defend against your onslaught. But you didn't, which means there is more behind your reasoning than you let on. Like maybe, you care about someone and you don't want to leave." Goku backed up nervously when he was Vegeta's face twist into a nasty grimace. Perhaps he had been unwise to bring something like that up but he had told Bulma he was going to try and help and sometimes, the best way to get things out in the open was to resort to sneaky and underhanded tactics.

"Huh Kakarot. You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? That Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans is living on Planet Earth because he cares for somebody." Looking towards Goku, he spit at the younger man's feet, watching in satisfaction as Goku flinched from the unspoken insult. "Well, if you haven't already figured it out, I'll let you in on something. I only live for myself. Me. Everyone else is just a pawn in my life to be used and disposed of when I feel that their usefulness is gone or they have become too sure of their position in my life. Some people would like to think that I, a mighty elite Saiyan warrior, perhaps have it in me somewhere to allow weak feelings like affection into my cold heart, but I have no room for them. As I've told you before, such feelings will only get you killed in the end and only the idiots that believe in such garbage are too blind to see it." Looking at Goku's expression, Vegeta felt his temper starting to rise. He knew with certain clarity that Bulma had set up this whole sparring match so that he might break down and tell Kakarot everything he was going through since the man standing before him was also a Saiyan. Why she ever came up with such a foolish assumption was beyond him. Kakarot was not a Saiyan, no matter if his blood proclaimed him to be one or not. He had forgotten what it was like to be one and was happy acting like an idiotic, emotional human. The words that came out of his mouth only increased Vegeta's conviction that the man standing before him, the one who had reached the Legendary before he was able to and defeated the man responsible for using Vegeta for his own twisted ends, was an idiot like everyone else around here who thought they could understand him.

"Vegeta, caring is not a weakness, no matter what you say or how you try to convince yourself otherwise. It's a strength to be able to confide in someone the important things you need to figure out in your life. The more I hear you talk like this, the more I wish I would have had the strength to kill Frieza without showing him any mercy. I know it's because of him that you are having such a difficult time adjusting to the way things are here with…I mean on Earth."

"Get out. Now." Vegeta said quietly to the man who had the nerve to tell him he understood. He followed Goku's battered form as the man made his way to the doorway without pausing or glancing over his shoulders. As soon as the door slammed shut, Vegeta slumped onto the ground and held onto his head, trying to push back the tremors and…He was losing his mind. He truly was going mad. Trying to funnel his confusion into anger, he focused on Kakarot and his superior attitude. How dare he tell him what to think? How dare he infer about his relationship with Bulma and his current instability? How dare he act as though he knew and gave a shit about the Hell he had lived in his entire life under Frieza? And how dare that Woman try to use the baka as a way to get information out of him. It was the last and final straw.

Standing up quickly, he made his way outside, surprised to see that it was only a little after the noon hour. Making his way back into the kitchen, he found all of the Briefs sitting around the table, looking at him guiltily as he marched inside. No doubt, they had been talking about him behind his back. That, above everything else, strengthened his resolve. Walking over to Dr. Briefs, he ignored Bulma as she tried to stand up.

"How quickly can you ready the ship the Gravity simulator is in for departure into space?" Waiting for an answer, he grabbed a hold of Dr. Briefs's lab coat yanking him bodily out of his seat when he didn't answer quickly enough. Snarling into the terrified doctor's face, he shook him slightly. He didn't have time to play games. "Well, answer me!"

"Uh, well, um, a few things will need to be modified. I can have it ready in a few days."

Dropping the doctor back into his seat, Vegeta crossed his arms and hissed in disgust.

"Three days? That's not good enough old man. It needs to be ready by tonight."

"Well young man, I cannot guarantee…" He was interrupted by the startled gasps coming from his daughter and his wife as Vegeta smashed his fist into the table, breaking it in half, spilling the food that was sitting on it across the kitchen floor and onto their laps.

"If you want to live to see another day, you will do as _I SAY_!" Vegeta shouted. "Is that understood?" Seeing Dr. Briefs nodding head, Vegeta turned around huffily and ignored the feeling of guilt that was spearheading into his gut when he looked at Bulma's horrified expression. Growling, he forced his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs to his room, walking through the demolished door and making his way to the closet. He realized that Bulma had been good about her promise to have a work bot come and clean up the mess and he was satisfied to see that he had a pile of fresh clean clothes, training gear, armor and most importantly, under garments. Grabbing a capsule from his mostly empty dresser, he started to stuff his clothes inside of it, ignoring the pain radiating from his hand and the numerous injuries he had sustained while sparring with Kakarot. Turning around to grab a pair of shoes, he was stopped by the sight of Bulma standing in his damaged doorway. And by the looks of it, she was good and pissed.

"You have a lot of nerve bullying my Dad like that Vegeta. How could you do something like that after all we've done for you? You are so small minded sometimes it's amazing."

Snorting in disdain, Vegeta turned back to his packing.

"Well, what do you expect? You've tried to turn me into something I'm not Woman. I've wasted enough time around here and around you and it's turning me into a crazy bastard, if I wasn't already one to begin with. Besides, all of you are nothing but weaklings anyway. It behooves you to give me the respect I deserve as a Prince." Not paying attention to his mate's position, Vegeta didn't realize she had moved until he felt the sting of her hand across his cheek. Whipping around, he grabbed her wrist with his good hand and pulled her body to his.

"Naughty, naughty Woman. And here I thought you promised to never lay another hand on me. What a dirty little liar you are." His eyes hardened when he caught the fury in Bulma's face for being handled in such a manner. Letting her wrist go he crossed his arms and waited for her onslaught.

"You deserved that Vegeta. My family has only ever tried to treat you with respect and dignity and all you do is throw it back in our faces. Well, fuck you Vegeta! I hate you."

Vegeta stood back in shock. She hated him? He…he didn't want her to hate him, did he? Gods above, this was unbearable. He tried to turn his back on her but he found himself rooted to where he was standing. Throughout his lifetime, he'd been told numerous times that he was hated and it had never bothered him. In fact, it had made him laugh; thinking it only helped to fuel his image as a feared warrior throughout the known galaxy. But to hear his mate tell him that she hated him, it was…uncomfortable. Of course, Bulma's mood swings did nothing to help the situation. In seconds, she had collapsed on his bed and was sobbing…again.

"Stop it Woman! Letting out miserable tears is only showing me how much of a weakling you are." Letting out a snort of contempt, Vegeta once again found himself packing his belongings.

"I can't help it Vegeta. You're abandoning our baby and me. How else am I supposed to react?"

Ignoring her comment and the tightness in his gut, Vegeta tried to drown out the sound of her tears but it only made him feel all the more guilty for doing what he was doing. It didn't matter in the back of his mind that he thought she deserved it. Part of him felt awful for doing exactly that. She was weak with no power level. What if she died giving birth to their child? Would he survive that? Shaking his head in confusion, Vegeta tried desperately to hang onto his convictions. If she were a Saiyan, his leaving would be no cause for concern. Pah, it was so damned annoying that he had ended up shackling himself to such an emotional female.

"I told you from the beginning that I made no plans to stay on this planet. Well, I've decided to leave and there is nothing you can do or say that will change my mind on this matter. If you had been smart enough to leave things well enough alone and kept that bastard Kakarot out of my personal business, I might have decided to stay long enough for the birth of my brat. But you still have not learned the value of keeping your big mouth shut Onna."

Letting out a sob of despair, Bulma tried to implore with him, get him to change his mind. "I was only trying to help you Vegeta. How else was I supposed to get through to you? I care about you even though you treat me like dirt. I'm a sentimental fool and I know it. I just thought that since Goku is a Saiyan, maybe he would understand something about you."

Putting his packing to the side, he walked over to where Bulma was blubbering on his bed. Why he was even moving in her direction, he didn't know except that it had something to do with their stupid bond. Yanking her upright none to gently, Vegeta put his arm around her thickening waist to anchor her to him and then tilted her face upwards with his free hand so he could look into her eyes.

"Look at me Woman," he growled slightly when she refused to open up her eyes. Putting pressure on her chin, he repeated his command. "I said look at me!" With the uncomfortable pressure on her face, Bulma obliged him in his request, opening up her blue eyes that were red and puffy from crying.

"You meddled in things you shouldn't have. No matter if Kakarot and I came from the same planet, that idiot is not a Saiyan. He has forsaken Saiyan ways to live a life of mediocrity on a planet he should have destroyed as a child. He does not understand me nor do I understand him."

Letting out a sniffle, Bulma tried to pull out of Vegeta's grip but as usual, she didn't have the strength and he wasn't willing to let her go at that moment.

"But why do you have to leave? What about the Androids? Are you going to let them destroy us just like you were planning on doing originally?" Bulma asked him as she relaxed slightly into his grip on her body.

"As I told Kakarot, I care not if they reek havoc on this stupid planet. I'm only fighting them so I can destroy him in the end. They are a means to an end, nothing more. And I cannot…I cannot reach my potential stranded here on this planet influenced by your foolish moods." Hardening his gaze, he pulled her in even closer to him. "You are affecting me through our bond and it has to stop. The farther I am away from you, the less influence it should have on me. If I have any hope of reaching Super Saiyan before those artificial beings arrive it will be alone in space." Not saying anything more, he abruptly released her. He had left much unsaid between the two of them, but if she was as intelligent as she kept telling him, she would figure out in her brain that he wasn't permanently leaving her, at least not yet. Grabbing the capsule he had packed with his personal belongings, he made his way to the doorway, stopping slowly and turning to face her. Swallowing slowly, he could feel her despair and it was tearing into him. Forcing his mind shut, as much as he could, he spoke out rougher then he intended.

"If you _really_ care about me, you will make sure I have enough food and other supplies to last me for another ten months or so." With that said, he spun on his heel and quickly left without looking back even though deep down inside, he knew he was hurting Bulma more than he had ever done so before.

Letting out a ragged breath, Bulma wiped her eyes. It was all her fault he was leaving. Would he even be back for the birth of their child? Was she going to have to deal with the humiliation of bearing this child all on her own, abandoned by her mate because he couldn't deal with himself? Moving slowly towards the entrance of his room, Bulma felt like drowning herself in her misery. This was all wrong, all of it. Nothing had been going right in her life for a while now but this was the worst she had ever had to deal with. It didn't even help that she had figured out he was only going to be gone temporarily. He was still leaving her when she needed him the most. What did he expect her to do while he was gone? All it did was prove to Bulma how much Vegeta truly despised her to do such a thing, that all her thoughts about him were overly romantic and indulgent. He was a cold-hearted blackguard and she had been overly foolish to think that he needed her or cared about her as much as she had become dependent on him. He had used her for sex and she had been stupid enough to go along with him and now she had to pay the price. The only problem with her current line of thinking was that no matter how much she tried to place him as the creep he made himself out to be, she felt that too was a lie. Any person who was suffering from severe emotional trauma like Vegeta was couldn't be so terrible. And on top of everything else was the strange bond they shared between the two of them even though it seemed like Vegeta was still fighting it.

Shaking her head, Bulma tried to stop her crying. She had to be strong because if she wasn't, she would fall apart into a quivering wreck. She couldn't allow for that to happen because her baby was going to need her more then ever in the near future. She would just have to move on and hope that Vegeta would eventually come around. With that in mind, she made her way back downstairs and put on her happy face even though it was killing her inside to do such a thing. Deciding that if Vegeta was truly intent on leaving Earth to train away from her and her human influence, then she would have to support him even if it was the last thing she really wanted to do. Live was just so unfair.

_So, Vegeta is finally leaving his mate. How will the two of them fair separately from one another? Seeing as the first time they tried to stay apart it didn't work to their benefit, will this time be any different? To find out, stayed tuned in for the next chapter. Also, I apologize for how serious my story has become. I just can't make this part funny because in reality, when someone leaves a relationship, it isn't something that is humorous. Still, I'll try to keep a few gags going. Please tell me what you think and if you like my story, especially if it is on your favorites list, I would like to hear from you as well. So everyone, please review and give me some input as to how you think my story is progressing. Thanks a bunch! – Vegamarie_


	24. Chapter 24

_Here's the next installment! And thanks again to Bulma and Vegeta fan, SilverWing145, MissKira, fireeyes, Chazie, Miu 09, Pearl3, SuperMaz, indis, atfv2, koolkat01, A beloved reader, and Fluffy Kitten and Alley Cat for taking the time to review. It really makes my day when I get to hear from you guys. Also, just as a warning, Mrs. Briefs might appear to be OOC but I thought it would be nice to delve into her character somewhat and her relationship with Bulma. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters._

_Chapter 24_

_A couple of months after Vegeta's departure…_

"Come on honey, It'll be good for you! You need to get out more Bulma or you're going to end up turning into an old prune!"

Bulma let out a sigh and put down the wrench she was holding, placing it onto her workstation. Rubbing her forehead with the back of her arm, she leveled a look at her mother who was trying her best to get her to leave Capsule Corporation for a few hours of harmless shopping. The only concern Bulma had was that shopping, especially with her mother, was never an innocuous event. It was impossible to remain anonymous when Bunny Briefs was dead set on shopping until she dropped from exhaustion, making sure to let everyone know who she was and how she spent her money.

Letting out another deep sigh, Bulma pushed her chair back slightly as she leaned into it, rubbing her belly, which was no longer flat anymore. There was definitely no denying the fact that she was pregnant, even is she had wanted to. Half closing her eyes, she shook her head slightly before deciding to respond.

"Mom, I thought the plan was for me to keep a low profile. You know very well that if I go shopping with you, someone's going to figure out that I'm pregnant. The last thing I want to deal with right now is scandalous media coverage. You know better than anyone what the tabloids and papers are going to say. "Heiress to Capsule Corporation knocked up. Yet another unwed mother added to the growing trend of immorality in our capital city." Not to mention all the speculation behind whom the father of my baby actually is. God, I can just see it. It'd be all over the next day and I'll bet you dollars to donuts, everyone will have it figured out that Yamcha's the dad. And don't even get me started about what will happen when he gets wind of it." Thinking about such a horrible outcome made Bulma want to simultaneously vomit and pass out.

However, Mrs. Briefs did not seem convinced by Bulma's theatrics. Patting her daughter on the back in a soothing motion, she bent over and gave her a brilliant smile, trying to cheer up Bulma's sour and apathetic mood.

"Oh, I don't know about that. No one really takes notice of you anymore dear. You're old news. Besides, you're just using it as an excuse so you can mope around the house like a puppy who lost its best friend."

Growling slightly under her breath, a habit she had no doubt picked up from Vegeta, Bulma pushed her chair back and stood up, trying to get away from her mother's overbearing presence. Picking up her tools, she started to put them away as she responded to her mother's statement.

"Pu-lease Mom! I'm not moping. What's the point of feeling sorry for myself? I made my bed the moment I decided to throw myself to the wolves. I've resigned myself to a life of singleness and honestly, there's nothing wrong with that."

Frowning slightly at her daughter, Mrs. Briefs decided that it would be in Bulma's best interest to let her know that allowing her fiery temperament get the better of her judgement wasn't going to help her situation.

"Bulma, honey, I think you're being a little bit hasty in your thinking. Vegeta's going to come back. I was talking to your father the other day about it. He basically told me that he'll have to come back sooner or later otherwise his ship will run out of fuel and he'll be stranded alone in space. Poor Vegeta, running out of food and oxygen! I don't think that the boy is stupid. Remember the last time he took off? He'll be back."

Turning around to face her mother, Bulma gave her a sad smile. She just didn't understand the intricacies of their relationship. Yeah, she knew Vegeta was going to be coming back. But she had fooled herself into thinking that he might actually grow comfortable enough to stay here and raise a family with her. But in the months since then, the reality was a bitter pill to swallow. He couldn't even talk about his problems without getting bent out of shape, let alone share his feelings with her. As far as she could tell, he didn't care about her or their baby, no matter how much she would have liked to believe otherwise. He would rather run from his problems then deal with them in a rational manner and as far as family was concerned, he had no clue what one was. So how could he then suddenly change his opinion and resign himself to a "life of mediocrity" as he had said about Goku? It wasn't going to happen. End of story. But it didn't stop her from missing him or her heart aching from loneliness even if he had never been a very enjoyable companion to begin with.

Readjusting the band that was holding her hair out of her face, Bulma tried to mentally reorganize her thinking. It wasn't doing her any good feeling sorry for her situation.

"Hey Mom, let's just change the subject, okay? I don't really feel like talking about Vegeta right at this moment. It's not like I'm reminded of him every morning when I wake up or anything." Slamming the tool drawer shut, she started to make her way out of the lab. In all honesty, she was spending way too much time down in the bowels of Capsule Corporation, but it was the one place where she could concentrate on important things besides her current abandoned state and her constant worrying over Vegeta's well-being. Still, her mother was a very perceptive being and she did need to get out. She just didn't think shopping was such a great idea, especially since she had a feeling her mother was going to insist on shopping for her grandchild. All that did was remind Bulma of Vegeta and…Mentally slapping herself, she tried to focus her mind on the present.

Turning around slightly, she cocked her head in the direction of her mother, who was absentmindedly dusting the lab countertops with the edge of the jean skirt she was wearing. Letting out an exasperated tsk, Bulma tried to latch onto her mother's limited attention span.

"Hello? Earth to Mom! We have cleaning bots that can dust! Honestly!" Bulma said as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms impatiently. Had her mother always been such a space cadet?

Letting out an embarrassed giggle as she flushed red, Mrs. Briefs dropped the corner of her skirt and hurried towards where Bulma was standing impatiently.

"Sorry dear. I didn't notice you'd moved. Beside, I couldn't help myself. You're as messy as your father."

"Gee, thanks for noticing." With that, Bulma made her way out of her basement lab towards the main part of the house; not bothering to make sure her mother was keeping up with her. Bounding up the steps, Bulma was still getting over the surprise of how much energy she suddenly seemed to possess, even though her belly was starting take on the telltale basketball shape of the later stages of pregnancy. It was as though the first four months of her pregnancy, with her bouts of fatigue and sickness, had never even existed. All in all, it was strange. Now the only problem she had to deal with was when the baby decided it wanted to move around and play kickball inside of her stomach. In the beginning, it had been a delight when she had first felt the baby move inside her womb. It reminded her of a being tickled as child by her father. Now however, she felt like her insides were being used as a punching bag to the delight of her half-Saiyan child. Sometimes the kicks were so strong that Bulma found herself being physically pushed forward or backward depending on what direction her baby's aim was. Bruises were also becoming common place along her expanding middle so she definitely was looking forward to the not so distant future when her child would run out of room to frolic inside her womb. However, by the time that occurred, she would be ready to give birth and she wasn't particularly looking forward to the pain she knew she was going to have to endure. It also didn't help matters that Vegeta most likely was not going to make an appearance until well after their child was born. It was bad enough having to go to Lamaze classes with her mother as her birthing coach, but deep down inside, she only wanted Vegeta with her when the event finally took place. But whom was she joking? Even if he had stuck around, the thought of him being considerate and supportive while she labored to deliver their child was about as far from reality as you could get.

Letting out a sigh of defeat, Bulma rounded the top of the stairs and tried her best to stop thinking about the depressing state of her relationship with Vegeta that seemed to follow a pattern with which all her relationships with the opposite sex went. Why was it so difficult for her to find Mr. Right? And why in blazes had she chosen Vegeta as the man to be her lifetime partner? Frustrated with her circular thinking, Bulma chose at that moment to make sure her mother had followed her up from the lab. Relieved to see that the flighty woman was right behind her, Bulma started to walk towards the living room. Flopping down on a nearby couch, she leaned her head against the back cushions and absently rubbed the taught and itchy skin of her abdomen. Feeling her eyelids beginning to get heavy, it seemed like the ideal time to take a nap even though she wasn't really tired. It was at moments like these that she could sometimes catch a glimpse of Vegeta (or at least a feeling of what he was doing) through their bond. Unfortunately, her attempt to delve into the telepathic link she shared with him was cut short when she felt her mother grab onto her shoulder and shake her gently out of her stupor.

"Bulma, snap out of it! I'm not going to allow you to wallow around in misery for the rest of the day! You are going shopping with me and that is final!" Mrs. Briefs hissed close to Bulma's ear in a loud whisper. Her daughter had begun to take on the lifestyle of reclusive hermit and even though she was eating and taking care of herself unlike the first time Vegeta had taken off and disappeared, there was no mistaking the fact that she was sinking into a deep depression. It was disturbing to see her once vibrant daughter reduced to a robotic shell of how she normally acted. For the sake of her unborn grandchild, it had to stop. Sitting down next to Bulma, she wrapped her arms around her daughter's shoulders, pulling her into a tight hug, letting Bulma's head rest on her shoulder.

Whispering quietly, she moved in closer to where Bulma was sitting.

"Sweetie, constantly thinking about how you could have changed things, made them different between you and Vegeta is not going to bring him back. I know it's hard, but sometimes, we just have to follow our hearts and believe that they are leading us in the right direction." Brushing the tears that were welling out of Bulma's eyes with her nicely manicured fingers, Mrs. Briefs started to rock her daughter like she had done when Bulma was just a little girl in need of comfort and support from her mother. In the months since Vegeta had left, and even before then, Bulma had become much more secretive about what she was really feeling and Mrs. Briefs's intuition sensed that perhaps just by comforting her daughter in such a motherly fashion, she would finally allow her floodgate of disappointment and misery poor outward, allowing herself to express what was going on in her head to someone other then her own confused mind.

Feeling Bulma's shoulders begin to shake as she let out a stifled sob, Mrs. Briefs made comforting shushing noises as her daughter finally allowed herself the luxury of expressing her depressed state of mind to someone who truly cared about her well being. In moments, Bulma's stifled sobs became wails of frustration and misery, her tears leaking down her face in furrows and dripping off the end of her nose and chin. Pulling her face into her mother's comforting bosom, Bulma wrapped her own arms around the warm and supportive person who was holding her and rocking her, not belittling her for the outward expression of her tormented inner workings.

Rocking back and forth gently, Mrs. Briefs started to rub her daughter's back. It was hurting her just to see her little girl suffering so much. In her heart, she felt as though she should be angry with Vegeta for doing this to her baby, but for some reason she didn't fully understand, it was clear to her that even though he had taken off, he was just as emotionally unbalanced as her daughter was starting to become. Besides, it wasn't in her nature to be a begrudging individual and no matter that she wanted to protect her daughter from future heartache, her little girl wasn't a child anymore. Still, she would do what she could to help Bulma ease through this transition in her life. Letting out a breath, she felt Bulma's sobs start to lose strength and before long, her daughter was pulling herself out of her embrace, wiping her nose and eyes with the front of her maternity shirt.

Sniffing slightly, Bulma turned her watery eyes to where her mother was sitting patiently. It had felt good to let out her tears and to be held close and comforted. She couldn't even remember the last time someone had done that for her. Probably not since she had been a stupid teenager. Rubbing her cheeks with the palms of her hands, Bulma relaxed her position, leaning back into the couch. Letting her mind wander somewhat, trying to organize her thoughts, she felt the couch cushions next to her spring upward slightly as her mother started to stand up from her current position. Quickly, moving her hand, she latched onto her mother's arm, keeping her from leaving where she had been sitting.

"No Mom, don't go yet. I…I want to talk to you."

Sitting back down, Mrs. Briefs turned to where her daughter was sitting, leaning forward as though she was trying to figure out exactly how she was going to word her next statement.

"Why did he leave me? Wasn't I good enough for him? Am I good enough for anybody? Look at Yamcha and me. He cheated on me. I don't even know what's worse anymore, being cheated on or being abandoned. It just makes me feel like I'm nothing but a man's plaything. Me, the richest most powerful woman in the world, and I can't even find the right guy to respect and care for me without using me for some reason or another." Leaning forward, Bulma put her head in her hands and instantly regretted it when her nose started to run. Gratefully taking the Kleenex her mother proffered to her, she blew her nose loudly and let out a hitching breath as she waited for a response.

"Bulma, stop blaming yourself. You _are_ good enough. Yamcha just wasn't ready for a committed relationship and you were. As for Vegeta, I don't know what your relationship with him is like. But if anybody can get through to that boy, it's you."

"Yeah, but what did I do that he left me like this? I didn't want to get pregnant. Well, I guess I did, but not with his child. He's so confused Mom and he's making me confused right along with him. He won't let me into his heart and it's been tearing me apart for a while, trying to figure out how I can help him when he won't open up to me. And then I blew my chance with him the minute I brought Goku into the equation. He hates me now."

Mrs. Briefs frowned slightly. There was definitely real feeling, at least were Bulma was concerned, about Vegeta. More so than there had ever been with Yamcha, yet she didn't know what she could say to her daughter since she really didn't understand their relationship. All she knew was that it was deeper then either one had let on during the time before Vegeta had decided to go into space to train. But why Bulma would blame his leaving all on herself was more than a little bit disturbing.

"Honey, I don't think he hates you. Really, I don't know too much about Vegeta, but I'm sure if he did, you would know about it. And what exactly does Goku have to do with anything?"

Pulling a pillow into her lap, Bulma began toying with the corners as she tried to figure out how to explain her relationship with Vegeta. It was embarrassing and more importantly, there was still the fact that Vegeta hated people learning things of a personal nature about himself. The problem was, she was tired of feeling so alone and her mother was offering her the chance to get things off of her chest that had been slowly eating away at her will to stay as a happy and outgoing individual. Quite frankly, she hated how her attitude had taken a nosedive in the last year or so. Licking her dry lips, she turned her gaze towards her mother, finally making a decision about how much personal information she was going to reveal to her mother about the unique and disturbing relationship she had with Vegeta. Maybe it would help her to understand him better if she could finally explain to someone what was going on.

"It's…it's like this Mom. Vegeta's not…how can I say this? I mean, you obviously know that we've been, um, intimate with one another. Maybe you think that I started sleeping with him as a way to rebound from my relationship with Yamcha, but that's not what it is." Putting her palms on her face, she pushed them upward through her hair, latching them behind her head as she looked over at her mother's expectant features.

"God, I don't even know where to begin."

"Just take your time honey. I've got all day you know."

Smiling at her mother weakly, Bulma's gaze became serious as her thoughts traveled back in time to when things between her and Vegeta had begun to get complicated.

"Honestly, I don't know what ever possessed me to invite him to live here. He was so mean and arrogant, not at all a nice guy when I first met him on Namek. He terrified me yet when I realized he wasn't going to have a place to stay when he got wished back here to Earth, I gave him that stupid invitation. It's probably the bossy, motherly person inside of me that wants to take care of everybody, even jerks like Vegeta. I didn't really think too much of it, you know, since he took off in the Capsule ship dad had built soon after he arrived. It wasn't until he showed up again and we learned about the Android threat from that kid that things between me and Vegeta became more personal." Letting out a wry smile, she thought back to how he had first started calling her "Woman," treating her like his personal lackey and how she hadn't backed down or given into his demands. In all honesty, it had surprised the hell out of her when he hadn't blasted her for being so insolent. And that was how their turbulent relationship had started to develop.

"I don't really know how it happened. I was having problems with Yamcha, but you already know that so I'm not going to rehash an old story. I just never put up with his shit you know. And then he blew up the Gravity Room and for some reason, I couldn't leave his side. I think it was the first time I realized that I…that I felt something for Vegeta besides intolerance and irritation. I mean, it really scared me that he could have died from his own hardheaded stupidity. And it made me feel uncomfortable that I was starting to kind of like him is a weird sort of way when I still had Yamcha. Yet Vegeta never once acted like he thought anything of me other than as someone to torment and pester. It wasn't really until that week when you and dad took of on that vacation when things really started to get strange between me and Vegeta." Pausing to take a breath, Bulma continued forward with her story.

"I'm not going to get into it, but he pissed me off royally when he blew up the kitchen and then wouldn't take responsibility for it. So I, um, kicked him out of the house. I don't think any weak female had ever done that to him before and it…it shifted his perception of me in a way that I wasn't even sure about until later on. Then there was the night of my stupid blind date. You remember that night don't you Mom?"

Mrs. Briefs shook her head slightly. How could she forget it? Vegeta had demolished the wall in the foyer and she had found him bodily hauling her daughter into his room. Just as suddenly, he'd left that same night, not returning for three months. Three months in which her daughter had become disturbingly thin and increasingly violent and moody.

"Well, um, I learned a lot about Saiyans that night Mom. Specifically, what Saiyans do when they decide to um, settle down with a girl. Look, I don't really want to get into the details, but Vegeta opened up some sort of emotional connection between the two of us. I got so sick because we were foolishly trying to deny what our bodies wanted. That's why he finally came back. To claim me as his mate. And when he did it, he created this…this permanent telepathic link between the two of us. A bond. So even though he's light years away from planet Earth, I can still sense him. The long and short of it is that according to Saiyan standards, I guess Vegeta and I are the equivalent of a…a married couple. And I'm what drove him away because I couldn't keep my thoughts and feelings to myself."

Mrs. Briefs just looked on at her daughter in shock. She had suspected that there was more to Bulma and Vegeta's relationship then sex, but the fact that they were married was…was a lot to take in. On top of that, she didn't really understand about their telepathic connection or what it had to do with Vegeta taking off in another fit of anger and rage.

"I don't understand Bulma? How could you make him leave? He made his own choice and I'm sure it had nothing to do with you."

Shaking her head slightly, Bulma fidgeted with her hands as she tried to piece together an explanation that would allow her mother to understand. It would have been nice to talk to someone who actually grasped what she was going through, but the only other full-blooded Saiyan that lived on Earth was Goku, and it would be extremely humiliating to have to go to Chi-Chi to ask her about her relationship. Besides, Goku was not at all like Vegeta except for the fact that the two of them loved to fight. And then there was the fact that Chi-Chi loathed Vegeta and still thought Bulma was nuts for breaking up with Yamcha. So the only one she could talk to was her mother.

"He tried to teach me to keep my thoughts to myself. I guess Saiyans have an innate telepathic ability and Vegeta, always a master of control, can contain his thoughts and emotions to such an extent that it feels like trying to break through a steel barrier when I've tried to delve into what he's going through. And since I don't have any innate ability, I apparently broadcast all of my thoughts and feelings to him regardless if I mean to or not. Needless to say, with my hormones and mood swings, I was driving him to distraction. But there is something deeper than that when it comes to Vegeta. He…the night we bonded…he let me see his entire life. I can't remember much about it, but it was horrible. Vegeta…he doesn't understand emotions or feelings because I have a feeling they were beaten out of him at a young age. Well, since we've been together, my emotions have been reeking havoc on his well-ordered and organized mind. Besides that, I have a hunch that he's still trying to circumvent our relationship and that he has the ability to…to feel but he doesn't know how. The last couple of months before he left, he became very withdrawn except for when he would do things out of character, I think due to my hormones and stuff. Anyway, he became confused and I tried to get him to open up to me, to talk to me about what was really bothering him. But he doesn't trust me. So I had Goku come over to see if he could help were I failed since he's also a Saiyan. But it backfired on me, just making Vegeta even angrier for my interference. So he left because he couldn't concentrate on his training due to my overactive hormones and because I think he felt I betrayed him somehow." End of story.

Mrs. Briefs pursed her lips in thought before she responded to Bulma's retelling of events. It was going to be a difficult task to convince her daughter that she had to stop blaming herself for the way things had worked out. Regardless if she thought Vegeta's leaving had to do with her hormones or her failed attempt at some sort of intervention, it was clear to her that Vegeta would have left regardless. Taking a hold of Bulma's hand, she squeezed it gently.

"Look sweetie, I don't know how to convince you that it's not your fault that Vegeta decided to leave. I think he would have left no matter what. I don't want you to become upset about what it is I'm going to say, but just hear me out. He needs to work out what is going on in his life. Getting married, having a family, these are big steps in anybody's life and when someone gets rushed into it, there can sometimes be a whole lot of baggage brought into the budding relationship. It sounds to me that Vegeta is more than likely confused and afraid of what the future is going to bring him. I never really thought of him as being a person who needs to be in control, but it makes sense. I don't think he feels in control of himself or what direction his life is moving in any longer. And I'm sure that he was feeling that way well before he started a relationship with you. I think he needs space to sort out what's going on in his life and when he has his ducks in a row, he'll be back. So until then, you have to stop putting all of the blame for what's happened on yourself Bulma. I mean it. You can't live the rest of your life wishing you could change the past because it's not going to happen. You have a baby to think about. Do you want your child to grow up with a parent who is miserable; pining over something they had no control over and couldn't change? All you can do Bulma is make a promise right now to yourself that you are going to get through this and when Vegeta does come back, that you are going to work on making things right between the two of you, even if he tries to resist. He needs you Bulma. He wouldn't have created a bond between the two of you if he didn't. That's all I'm going to say about this. Think about it." With that, Mrs. Briefs gave Bulma another quick hug and then she stood up, leaning over to help her daughter also get out of the couch they had been sitting on together.

Wiping her eyes for the final time, Bulma thought about everything her mother had just said. In truth, she was feeling a sense of relief that she had finally been able to open up to somebody after all these past months. And even though her mother came across as being and idiot most of the time, she definitely could give good advice when it really mattered.

"So, are you going to sit around putzing with your inventions or are you going to go out on the town with me? I'll even treat you to spa treatment downtown. They always make me feel relaxed and invigorated afterwards."

Shrugging her shoulders slightly, Bulma moved towards the doorway of the living room, rubbing the small of her back as she proceeded forward.

"I guess. I really wasn't getting anything done down there today anyway. The baby was really active this morning and my back has been hurting me. Besides, I need to figure out what I'm going to do for the nursery. There are only three months left before the baby makes an appearance and so far, the only thing the nursery has going for it is how large the room is." She just wished that Vegeta were here to help her make the decision of how to decorate, even though he probably would have ignored her request for help had he still been around. Being someone who enjoyed surprises, Bulma had opted to not find out the sex of their baby until it was born, but it made coming up with a decorating scheme all the more impossible because it had to be gender neutral. Looking over at her mother, she couldn't help smiling at her beaming expression.

"Oh, decorating! I have some ideas, sweetie! I was thinking about polar bears, what do you think?"

Rolling her eyes, Bulma decided it was best to ignore her mother's suggestions until they got to the store.

"Whatever Mom. I'm going to go run upstairs and change out of my work cloths into something a tad more fashionable and wash my face. I'll be down in a jiff." Leaning forward, she placed a kiss on her mother's cheek before she made her way upstairs to her room. Pausing outside of Vegeta's vacated room, she let her mind wander back to what her mother had said. He would have left anyway, something Bulma had instinctively known but hadn't wanted to face the reality of it. Letting out a deep breath, she placed her palm on the doorframe, thinking about how he was and wondering if he was getting anywhere with his training. All her thinking did was make her miss him even more. Not knowing why, she found herself opening the door and wandering inside his room which hadn't been opened in the two months since he had left her.

Stepping over to the bed, she trailed her hand alongside its edge, feeling the roughness of the fabric underneath her fingers. Was he sleeping all right? Were his food stores still adequate? And more importantly, was he thinking about her at all, wondering how she was doing? Moving over to the closet, she opened it up and found herself taking out an old and ragged training uniform that had numerous stains and holes in it. Putting the material up to her face, she rubbed her cheek against it, taking in a deep breath, trying to discern if Vegeta's musky scent was still attached to it. Setting it back down from where she had picked it up, she quietly closed the closet door and made her way over to the bureau. Standing in front of it, she suddenly realized how foolish her actions were. Maybe it was because she needed to make peace with herself and her situation and she felt like Vegeta needed to be part of that as well. Even though he wasn't here anymore, there were more than enough reminders of him in his room that she could use it as a catalyst to help her sort out the hurt she had been suffering through for the past few months. Pushing her embarrassment to the side, she tentatively touched the handle to the top drawer, finally making a decision to open it and see what she could find inside. More than likely, it was empty. Vegeta hadn't owned a lot of material possessions and most of them had fit into the closet without too much difficulty. Still, there was the possibility that there was something of his inside.

Pulling the drawer open, Bulma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion over what she found. Inside, the bottom of the drawer was littered with little slips of folded up paper that had been tossed inside. Blinking in surprise, Bulma placed her hands inside and scooped up a pile of the notes, feeling a smidgen of guilt for prying into Vegeta's private life. Squashing the uncomfortable feeling down, she took her findings over to the bed and sat down carefully, placing them next to her in a neat little pile.

Grabbing one in her hand, she carefully unfolded it, curious to see what it was. It was then that she noticed that the note was in her handwriting. Blinking slowly, trying to keep her tears at bay, she rubbed the paper between her thumbs and index fingers, noticing that the note she was holding onto must have been opened more than once for the creases were smooth and worn looking. The one she was holding said that she cared about him. Opening the rest of the notes, they were all the ones she had left him in the months between discovering she was pregnant and when he had left her. He had saved every single one of them, something so uncharacteristic of Vegeta that Bulma tried to grasp the significance of it. She had just assumed he had taken her notes and burned them or thrown them away. But why would he have kept them, and by the evidence in front of her, re-read them numerous times? It didn't make any sense, but at the same time, it was remarkably clear to her.

Vegeta did not understand feelings or emotions. This much Bulma already knew. But it had become obvious to her since the time they had become bonded to one another and maybe even before then, that he had them, though he tried to deny their existence. Perhaps he had kept her notes because deep down inside, he craved the knowledge and security that somebody cared enough about him to let him know he wasn't alone. Staring silently at the little pile she had picked up, she slowly stood up, cursing her body for being so awkward and clumsy. Taking the notes in her hands, she placed them back in the drawer and closed it quietly. She didn't know how long she stood there looking at the dresser containing Vegeta's little secret. But for the first time in a long time, she felt a certain amount of happiness. Maybe it was just foolishness on her part, putting more into something than there actually was, but it made her giddy to know that Vegeta wasn't as cold hearted towards her as he had tried to make himself out to be. Smiling slightly, she made her way out of his room into her own, feeling a kernel of hope take seed in her heart; hope that maybe there really was something between the two of them after all.

_Sorry readers that there was no Vegeta in this chapter, although he is mentioned quite frequantly. I promise that he will definitely be the focus of the next one. I myself am not very sure about this chapter. I had a difficult time writing it. I had lots of ideas, but nothing was very coherent. I apologize if I rehashed a lot of the previous plot, but I hope it made sense and wasn't too dull. As always, please let me know what you think by leaving a review. Vegamarie._


	25. Chapter 25

_Wow, another one done and I finished it much, much faster than I anticipated! This one was somewhat easier to write than the last one. I had the idea in my head and it just seemed to flow together well. I hope you like it. And thanks so much for the reviews! It's great to hear from so many of my readers. It's what keeps me motivated. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of its characters. _

_ Chapter 25_

_Somewhere deep in space…_

Vegeta fell to his knees on the floor of his ship, panting from exertion as sweat ran down his face, dripping off the end of his nose, making rivulets as it slid across his skin. Kneeling, he closed his eyes trying to will himself the strength necessary to continue on with his grueling training regiment. However, even though his mind was insisting he had the strength and energy to continue on, his body was in disagreement. Groaning from the effort it took to stand up in the intense gravity, he cursed as his legs wobbled and then gave out underneath him, causing him to collapse to the floor in an undignified heap. Lying there with his face against the cool metallic tiles, Vegeta tried to gain back his equilibrium while he took in deep breaths to oxygenate his taxed muscles. He had no idea how long he lay on the floor of his ship but eventually, he decided that perhaps it was time to take a break. Unable to get his feet underneath him after several failed attempts, Vegeta found himself using his upper body to pull himself across the floor to the control center where he could turn off the simulator. Gripping the sides of the console, he used it as a lever to pull his body into an upright position, grunting and panting from the effort. Finally seeing the shut off button, he pressed it and then slid down the side of the console so that he was sitting propped up against it, finding it much easier to breath once the gravity discontinued.

Leaning against the control center, Vegeta wiped the overly abundant sweat from his face with the back of his arm, letting out a disgusted growl when the movement caused him to take in a whiff of his own sour body odor. In the past, it had never really bothered him about how strong his scent could be after an intense bout of training. To him, it was a sign of his masculinity and his Saiyan prowess as a physically fit warrior. Unfortunately, living with Bulma with her required daily showers had made him forget how smelly he actually could get. Now that he hadn't had a real honest to goodness shower in over two months, he was regretting on not having Dr. Briefs install one in the ship as had been suggested. Instead, he had opted for the bare minimum required to survive in deep space, much as he had done under Frieza, all for the sake of expediency, in order to get as far away from Earth as he could in a short amount of time. Letting out a deep sigh, he finally found the energy to push himself to his feet. Standing up slowly, he grimaced slightly when his stomach let out a deep growl indicating how hungry he was. Slowly making his way to the food storage capsules, he grabbed the nearest one and opened it, watching as an assortment of ready to eat, tasteless meals suddenly appeared out of thin air.

Seating himself next to the pile of food, Vegeta pushed the nearest sandwich into his mouth. After about two bites though, he suddenly found himself spitting it out in disgust. Looking at it, he realized that the bread was beginning to mold and the meat tasted as though it had been left out in the open for days at a time. Feeling his irritation morphing into anger, he quickly started to look at the rest of the food on his pile, realizing that all of it was starting to show signs of spoilage. Standing up quickly, he found another food capsule and opened it, finding the same result.

Dropping back down into a sitting position, Vegeta absently ran his hands through his sweat-drenched hair, gritting his teeth in visible frustration. This was the newest disaster to befall him in the brief amount of time that he had been in space, and the list was starting to become alarmingly long. First, he had destroyed all the training bots that Dr. Briefs had provided him with during his first week, not realizing that he didn't have the necessary equipment or know how to fix them until it was too late. Then he had needed to make an emergency pit stop at an illicit space station because the sanitary system had somehow managed to become plugged, causing a very disgusting explosion when Vegeta tried to use it. After that incident had been repaired, his ship encountered an unknown patch of interstellar debris, which somehow managed to get sucked into an exhaust port, with its final destination being the navigation system. Realizing that he couldn't very well keep flying his ship in a random direction, Vegeta had to rely on old interstellar navigation tricks in order to find another planet or space station where he had to make yet another unintended stop to fix his ailing ship. The only thing he could find redeeming about his trip so far was that his name was still a powerful force within the known galaxy. Needless to say, the fact that he had no money or anyway to access his credit accounts under Frieza hadn't been an issue when it came to payment. Still, making so many stops had cut into his training time and it had made him even more irritable than he was to begin with. And now, for whatever reason, all of his food stores were going bad which meant he would have to live off the rotting stuff or he would have to pitch it and make another stop to purchase (or in his case, terrorize) it out of some unsuspecting fool's hands. And with all of these problems came a very uncomfortable realization: in the brief time he had spent living at Capsule Corporation, he had become used to the fact that there was always someone around to fix the damage he created or the mechanical problems he encountered. Now, he only had himself to rely upon and even though he was a very intelligent man, repairing his space ship was not something he had ever had to do in the past and he didn't have the knowledge to do it himself.

Leaning back on his hands, Vegeta stared up at the ceiling, trying to quell the ever growing feeling that he was the butt of some sort of joke. How could this be happening to him, the Prince of all Saiyans? He had come out here to train and so far, all he'd been doing in the last two or so months was baby his stupid ship along. And the rotting food was the last straw! Thinking about his current predicament, he narrowed his eyes when he suddenly came to the realization that Bulma had been the one to pack his food stores. So wasn't it convenient that they all suddenly started to rot only a couple of months after he had left? It would be just like her to pull a sneaky stunt like that just so he would have to come back. The more he thought about it, the more he became convinced of his idea's validity. In the short amount of time that he had come to know Bulma, he had discovered that she was a master at making and carrying out veiled threats without seeming guilty of doing anything wrong. She was also spiteful and vindictive and since his leaving her hadn't been a peaceful affair, he could totally see her trying to sabotage his attempts to escape from her until he could finally feel as though he were in control of his mind and his destiny once again.

"Blast the Woman! I am not going back until I have reached Super Saiyan! If she thinks she can control me through my stomach, she's got another thing coming to her. How dare she treat me like a stupid child? Argh!" Vegeta yelled up at the ceiling he was staring at.

Venting out his frustration, he found the energy to produce a ki blast, which incinerated the pile of spoiled filth in front of him. Rubbing his temples with one of his hands, he slowly stood up and made his way back to the ship's control center. Flipping the navigation system on, he scanned the mapped out sectors of space for the trading post that was closest to his current location. Growling in disgust when the computer informed him the nearest one was a good week out, he realized he was going to have to make due with the disgusting food that was still on hand. He just prayed that some of it was still good, but he had a sneaking suspicion that all of his food capsules were going to be like the two he had just opened. As a purger for Frieza, he'd had to make due with a wide variety of foods, even having to sometimes consume the people of the planets he had destroyed. While he had gotten used to it, he had never particularly enjoyed the habit of eating whatever was available. Since living at Capsule Corporation, his days of eating garbage seemed to be at an end. The fact that he was going to have to revert to old habits, at least for the next week or so until he came to a decent trading post, irritated and disturbed him to no end.

With that thought in mind, Vegeta slowly made his way over to the bunk that Dr. Briefs had installed before his hasty departure. Ignoring his growling stomach, Vegeta decided it was probably as good a time as any to take a nap. He had been training for hours, trying to make up for lost time, but even he could only withstand so much bodily stress before he needed to stop and let his muscles repair themselves. Seating himself on the bunk, he pulled off his training shirt, boots and gloves, throwing them at the foot of the bed. Settling himself down, he closed his eyes briefly and tried to relax his mind, focusing on meditation as a way to ease into a slumber that would hopefully be devoid of dreams.

He was halfway to finding himself asleep when images started to take shape in his mind, swirling around like eddies of sand being whipped around on a desert breeze. At first, it was a glimpse of a flash of aqua, so fast that his eyes couldn't track it. Then, it was a peek of a womanly form skimming across his vision and then disappearing into the shadows of his mind. Trying to follow the shape, he could hear soft laughter in the distance. But as he got closer to the sound, it changed from that of delight to a cry of sorrow and anguish. Stepping in closer to the sound, his curiosity peaked, he moved aside what seemed to be a dark and heavy drape, carefully trying to avoid being noticed by whatever it was that was hurting. Stepping into the shadows, the flash of aqua and the womanly shape came together as the form of Bulma, sitting on a cushion with her arms around something…or someone. Moving across the…sand, he stealthily crept in closer so that he could catch a better glimpse of what she was holding. Stopping abruptly before he could be discovered, he was shocked at what he saw before him.

Bulma…she looked like a goddess. Beautiful, powerful and wise. Her hair was long, flowing down across her back in sleek waves. And her body…it was strange to describe. Her middle was swollen but it didn't disgust him. Instead, he found himself being drawn towards the comfort and peace that radiated from her body. But he stopped himself before he made the fatal mistake of being detected. It was also at this point when he discovered what exactly it was she was holding onto.

Sitting in her lap was a small child, a boy. His hair was dark brown and it spiked up in a flame. His face was turned into Bulma's bosom as her arms wrapped tightly around the small form, rocking the figure as she hummed softly, comforting the child who was obviously distressed as indicated by the noises that were coming from him. Pathetic mewling and soft sobs. It both disgusted and fascinated Vegeta as he watched the scene play out before him. He was torn; part of him wanted to leave and the other part of him wanted…wanted what it was that Bulma was giving the boy in her lap. Finding himself strangely transfixed, he couldn't move his feet from the spot he had stopped on. It was at that moment when Bulma's voice carried across to where he was watching.

"It's alright. It's okay to cry, to want comfort and protection. Those are things that everybody wants. You don't have to be afraid of it."

Confused, Vegeta scrunched his eyebrows together, unsure if she was talking to him or the boy in her lap. He was about to say something when the boy stirred slightly, pulling his head away from its resting place and peaking up at the woman who was holding him.

"Why does it hurt? Why is it so hard, so hard to escape? Why do I have to suffer so much?"

"I don't know. When the time comes, you'll understand and when you do, I'll be there for you. So just relax. I'll be there to hold you. You don't have to do it alone." With that said, the boy suddenly wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled tremulously at Bulma, wrapping his small arms around her waist in a gesture of supplication. Vegeta silently watched as Bulma stroked the boy's hair, her lips quirked up in a look of acceptance and delight. However, as soon as the two figures seemed to relax into one another, a horrible high pitched cackle seemed to reverberate across the area where they were seated. Whipping his head around at the same time that Bulma and the boy did, Vegeta found the source of the hideous noise and it sent shivers up his spine. Trying to move his legs so he could snatch Bulma up before it was too late, he found himself still rooted to the spot he was in, unable to move and unable to shout out a warning for them to get away.

Observing in trepidation, Vegeta swallowed slowly as Bulma and the boy scrambled up to their feet in their haste to escape from the evil figure that stood before them.

"So, little prince. You think you can find comfort with that whore over there? Where is your sense of pride? Why did you ever think you could escape from the realization that you are a worthless piece of slime, that you aren't worthy of another's affection? You're allowing yourself to become weak, and for what? The paltry protection she can offer your stained and pathetic shriveled up heart? I thought I taught you long ago that the only love you can have in your life, the only feeling you can have is the pleasure of killing like the mindless beast that you are."

Pulling away from Bulma, the boy suddenly became enraged, screaming for Bulma to escape while he turned to face the enemy standing before him, the creature that had turned Vegeta into one of the horrors the universe had cowered underneath. Frieza.

"You're wrong Frieza! I'm…I don't…" the boy trailed off as he tried to find the right words to express what he wanted to say to the sadist standing in front of him.

Laughing, Frieza moved forward until he was facing the small child. Taking his clawed finger, he traced the boy's jaw line, stopping at his chin. Snickering when the child shuddered and tried to step away, Frieza knelt down so he was facing the boy eye to eye.

"Don't know what to say? Huh, not that I'm surprised. You're nothing but a stupid brat anyway. And look over there." Grabbing the boy's face in his hand, he wrenched it over so that they were both looking at the terrified figure of Bulma. Hissing softly and smiling with a look of pure malevolence, Frieza continued on with his taunting. "So much for her being there for you. She's just watching as I have my fun with you. Pathetic. And you're so stupid that you fell for her act. What rubbish! I thought I trained you better than that. I guess I'll just have to teach you a lesson."

Pushing the boy away, Frieza took a step closer to Bulma, who looked like she wanted to help but didn't know how too. Smirking nastily, Frieza raised his arm, pointing his index finger directly at Bulma's heart.

"You are a fool, just like the Prince. Thinking you can change a man that doesn't want or doesn't need to be changed. Thinking you can make a difference in someone's life. You're wasting your time with him. Well, I despise fools so I've decided to end this little charade right now."

Swallowing, trying to scream, Vegeta let out a silent plea for Bulma to run away. The boy, also seeing the inevitability of Bulma's situation, let out a shriek as he tried to push Frieza out of the way to no avail. Watching in transfixed horror, Vegeta saw Frieza swat the boy away as though he were a pesky fly, chortling when the figure crumpled unconscious into the sand that surrounded them. Turning his attention back to Bulma, he laughed sinisterly as he directed a beam of energy at her heart.

In his head, Vegeta screamed out Bulma's name as she fell in slow motion to the ground, her hand covering the wound in her chest as her blood leaked out as a scattered pattern of red across the sand. He started to scratch at his face, at his eyes as he tried to erase the image of Bulma's body jerking about in death throes as blood poured out of her mouth. Screaming, his eyes snapped open and he found himself…in his spaceship alone lying on the lumpy cot that was his makeshift bed.

Sitting up, he tried to ease the shaking in his limbs. Taking in a deep breath, he fisted his hands into the blanket he was lying on top of, trying to control his fear; trying to convince himself that it was only a nightmare and that none of it had been real.

Calming himself down ended up being more of an ordeal than he thought it should have been. He'd been having nightmares his entire life about Frieza and he'd always been successful at pushing them into one of the many locked doors inside of his head. But something about this dream disturbed him to no end. He kept seeing Bulma's death over and over again and instead of being able to laugh it off, it just kept circling back, disturbing him. It wouldn't leave his mind. Pushing his legs over the side of the bed, he glanced over at the clock above the view screen, the only thing that kept him in reality while he trained aboard the ship. He had managed to fall asleep for a few hours, but he didn't feel rested at all, not with the stupid nightmare still fresh in the back of his mind.

Standing up slowly, he made his way to the floor and sat with his legs crossed. Letting out a shuddering breath, disgusted with his fear, he decided the best way to rid himself of the horrible dream was to go through it and try to peace together what it meant.

Looking back, he realized that the boy in Bulma's lap had been a younger, more innocent version of himself, although he couldn't ever remember a time when he had been fresh faced or ignorant of the cruelty of the world. Obviously, his boyish version was trying to work out the feelings he himself was currently trying to force away and deny. Bulma was still herself, but she was more like some sort of catalyst, helping him to see what was truly inside of his heart, if he even had one to begin with. And then there was Frieza, the force that had molded him into what he had become. The part of him that was resistant to any sort of changes. That had to be what the stupid dream was about. It was the only thing that made sense. But why had he watched the whole thing as though he was an observer? What had been the point of that? To see how twisted his mind was becoming? Shaking his head in distaste, he had a feeling there was more to his observation of the dream then that. Besides, there was no denying the way he reacted to Bulma's imaginary death. If he was still the same Vegeta that had come to Earth in search of the Dragon Balls, he would have scoffed at her death, calling her a fool just as Frieza had for believing she could make a difference in one man's life. But he hadn't. Instead, he had tried to warn her to escape. He had wanted to protect her from hurt and harm, feeling as though she was an extension of his own life. And watching as the blood drained from her body, as he was helpless to prevent it, had scared him more than anything had ever done before. So what the hell did it all mean?

Letting out a sigh, he let his mind wander. He had left Earth to train in space away from distractions. At least on the surface, that's how it appeared. However, his reasons were deeper and more complicated than what they appeared. His real reason for leaving had to do with the fact that he felt like he was losing who he was to the stupid bond he had formed with Bulma. His control over his mind had slipped to such a degree that he had become unsure of a great many things, most importantly, what the hell he was doing on Earth in the first place and with Bulma no less. The idea was that if he got farther away from Bulma, he could train without hearing her thoughts and feeling her emotions and he could start to repair the damage that had been inflicted on his mental barriers and control mechanisms. On the surface, everything seemed to be working according to plan except for the numerous mishaps he was having with the stupid Earth made spaceship. He had started to feel more like himself the farther he got from Earth. Through the use of meditation, he was able to rebuild and concentrate his efforts on making his mental walls stronger than they were before. But there were some unintended side affects as well.

He could still feel Bulma, but not as strongly as on Earth, which only made sense with the distance involved between the two of them. However, the farther he got away from her, the emptier he felt. He didn't understand it. If this was how bonding worked, why the hell would anyone ever go through something like that? It was making him crazy with all of his mixed up feelings. On one hand, he couldn't stand the fact that Bulma seemed to be influencing him through their bond unintentionally even though he was by no means a weak telepath. On the other hand, he…he was beginning to miss her. Swallowing at the mental admission, he let out a grunt. Why did he miss her? He didn't like her, she irritated him, she annoyed him and she was a bitch most of the time. Maybe, he thought, it had to do with the fact that for the first time in his life, he had someone as a companion who…who what? Thinking back, the answer came to him in a moment of insight. She cared about him. Even though he scoffed at the notion, even thinking it was foolish of her to vest an emotion like caring onto someone like him, it was difficult for him to deny the fact that deep down inside, her caring about his well-being was flattering. And now, he was all alone just as he had been for the majority of his life, trying to survive and make himself stronger. For perhaps the first time in his life, he understood how alarmingly depressing a solitary life was and he did not like the sensation.

Opening his eyes as he tried to become comfortable with his realization enough for him to file it away safely in his brain, Vegeta glanced around the spaceship, seeing the mess that surrounded him. Standing up carefully, he made his way around the ship, picking up his dirty training gear and throwing it into an empty storage capsule. Looking over at the scorch mark on the floor where he had blasted the rotten food, he went over to where the water was stored and took out a ragged training shirt. Dampening the shirt while simultaneously making sure that he wasn't wasting any water, Vegeta took the cloth and made his way over to the scorch mark. Normally, he would never have disgraced himself by performing such a degrading task, but there was no one here to clean up his mess and he rather liked having a neat, tidy and orderly living space, much as he tried to keep his mind. Scrubbing away at the mark, he finally felt the lingering fear from his nightmare dissipate. It was actually somewhat relaxing, the motion of scouring the filth off the floor. In a way, it reminded Vegeta of cleansing the demons from his own life, a process that he had been undergoing as long as he could remember. Satisfied when most of the scorch mark was removed, he stood up and threw the dirty rag over next to the capsule that contained the rest of his dirty garments. Making a mental note to put it inside the capsule later, he went over to his bed, carefully tucking the material in, making it look like he hadn't just slept there.

After all of his monotonous chores were done, he went over and popped another food capsule, this time forcing himself to eat the disgusting food. Fortunately, this one didn't seem to be as rancid as the two he had destroyed so he could stomach it somewhat better. It also helped that he was starving, not having eaten anything in hours. After eating his fill and drinking some of the water that was stored on board his ship, Vegeta thought about training. The only problem was, his energy did not seem to be sufficiently recovered from his last bout of training and the nightmare he had endured probably hadn't helped him get much of a restful sleep. Looking over at the bed, he dreaded falling asleep again, still somewhat nervous about his dreaming pattern. He had been having a lot of dreams about Bulma lately, although the one he had just had was the first in which she had been present during one of his nightmares. Most of his dreams he knew were an extension of their bond. During his waking hours, he was trying his best to ignore it but while he was asleep, subconsciously, he had a feeling that he was checking up on Bulma or perhaps she was checking up on him. Either way, he couldn't escape from her, at least not fully. And again, part of him craved the connection that they shared even though it disturbed him at the same time. He hated feeling so conflicted about himself. Angrily pushing the thought back in his head, he was grateful for the fact that although he was still confused, he was finally back in control of his life, at least temporarily. And perhaps the more time he spent out in space, the more in control he would become so that by the time he was strong enough to face the Androids, he would be back to the way he was before he had come to live at Capsule Corporation.

Smirking slightly, he opened his mouth, exercising his vocal chords even though he was only going to be carrying on a conversation with himself.

"Yes Vegeta. You are strong. You are one of the mightiest warriors in the universe and everyone fears your name. One day, you _will_ be the strongest. You will defeat Kakarot and you will…" his voice trailed off. He would do what once he destroyed Kakarot? Suddenly the idea of traveling around outer space by himself, much like he was currently doing, instilling fear and obedience into the masses, didn't seem as appealing as it once had. He still liked the idea of ruling the universe, as he had always thought that was his pre-destined course of life. But now…there was that damn woman and his soon to be born brat. What was he supposed to do with them? He had already told Bulma that he was planning on leaving Earth for good once he beat Kakarot and she had seemed to go along with his statement. He had a feeling however, that once he destroyed Kakarot, Bulma would either despise him or she would insist that he not leave. He didn't know which option he liked worse. Thinking back to when he had left, he had been shocked when she had said she hated him. It was not a comfortable feeling to be told by your mate that they despised you. And no matter what he did in life from now on, no matter how much he tried to push Bulma away, she was tied to him for eternity. There would be no escape from her and he supposed he would rather have her tolerate him than hate him because it would make his life that much simpler. But how could he avoid that when there was no turning away from his course of action to destroy Kakarot? As for leaving…

"Huh, I could always take her and the brat with me." Scratching his head, he looked towards the front of the ship pensively. Why was he even thinking about this garbage? Still, he had nothing better to do and it was proving to be an interesting way to engage his intellectual side.

"Actually, if the Onna would ever figure out how to keep her damn mouth shut, it might actually be a good idea. Ha! She could be my concubine (even though he knew she was more than that, but it wouldn't do his reputation any good if everyone knew who she really was) and my lackey, fixing the blasted ship whenever it breaks down. As for the brat, I'm not really sure. When he gets older, I suppose I could train him. Bah, this is fucking ridiculous! She'd laugh at me if she knew what I was thinking, stupid Woman!"

Besides, except for her brief trip to planet Namek, Bulma had never really traveled in space. Supposing she would actually consent to serving him in the capacity of a servant woman, something she already refused to do, he had a feeling that traveling with her would be akin to throwing himself to a rabid crowd. Not a pleasant experience. Since she had never learned how to respect those stronger than herself, he had a feeling he would end up having to kill a great many people to keep her from getting harmed and he could not see lowering himself like that as a good thing. Besides, she had a settled existence on Earth and he highly doubted she would leave what she had to go along with him on some hell bent mission to reclaim his lost birthright as the supreme ruler of the universe.

But that still left him with the uncomfortable realization that in all actuality, the thought of permanently leaving Bulma was beginning to lose its appeal. All because he missed her. Ugh, what a weakling he was becoming, missing a loud-mouthed powerless woman who had managed to effectively drive him to insanity. Letting out a frustrated sigh, he tried to think up a solution to his predicament. There was no way that he was not going to eventually kill Kakarot. But as to the rest, he couldn't see himself settling down on Earth, which he knew was what Bulma would want him to do. That existence would be boring, not to mention extremely irritating. The only thing he could think of would be to set himself up as the ruler of the galaxy once Kakarot was out of the picture and then discretely come and visit Bulma and his brat when time allowed for it. Grunting in disgust, he decided his current train of thought was pointless and ridiculous. Since when had he ever really thought in depth about his future, especially how it would relate to another individual? He would just have to concentrate his efforts on becoming strong enough to destroy Kakarot, and once that was done, he would figure out where to go from there.

Standing up and stretching his arms out above his head, Vegeta decided the only way to clear his head of such stupid thoughts would be to train even more under the strain of intense gravity. That way, he could only concentrate on what he needed to do to survive, not the idiotic things that came to his head whenever he let himself delve into his retarded bond to a moody human female. Walking over to the control panel, he activated the gravity to 200 times, deciding to take it easy on his muscles, which were still somewhat sore from his last bout of training. Waiting patiently as the gravity engaged, Vegeta started to do his warm up exercises, finally getting into his routine. Panting slightly, he was starting to feel the thrill of training when a beeping noise started to emit from the control center. Growling under his breath, he ignored it until his training was stopped in a most unsatisfactory way. Doing a few backflips, Vegeta was in the middle of one when the computer's voice came on saying the gravity control mechanism had a fatal error. In less then a millisecond, Vegeta found himself crashing into the ceiling of the space ship as the gravity suddenly disengaged, the force he had exerted under 200 times gravity doubling as the restraint was gone. Groaning from the pain of having his face smashed into the metal ceiling, he lowered himself to the ground and angrily walked over to the gravity simulator control panel. Looking at the screen, his growling turned into a roar as he saw the flashing warning light that said there was a fatal error and that the gravity simulator would be locked down until someone could properly fix it. Slamming his fist down in anger, he cursed when he smashed in part of the control panel, effectively sealing his fate with the simulator.

"Curse that Woman!" Vegeta shouted in frustration. He couldn't get her out of his head and now, it seemed destiny thought it was amusing to show him how much he obviously couldn't live without her technological know how. It was going to be a very rough ride for Vegeta as he struggled to keep away from the woman who somehow was managing to continue to torment him as he tried to finally attain what was his by birth: the legendary Super Saiyan.

_Poor Veggie! What's he going to do without the gravity simulator as he flies through space alone? Will this cause him to come back home for some much needed repairs on his ship? To find out, read the next chapter! And as always, please remember to review! Thanks-Vegamarie_


	26. Chapter 26

_Oh my God! Over 200 reviews! I'm so excited! So very special thanks to Nish095081, Maatlockk, SuperMaz, Saiya-jin Queen, koolkat01, Cappuccino Penguin, bimbosarahsurfchick, Chazie, SilverWing145, Bulma and Vegeta fan, Pearl3 and everyone else who has sent me reviews! Thanks so much! _

_ A/N: Okay, I've never left one of these before, but just so you aren't confused, this is the timeline that I have figured out. When Bulma found out she was pregnant, she was about two months along. She was four months along when Vegeta left. Since it has been about three months since then, Trunks will be born in two months. According to the two year time frame I gave myself, Trunks should be born about nine months before the androids make an appearance. I know that is a little off from the show, but just bear with me. I hope it isn't too much of a stretch. Anyway, happy reading! _

_Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ or any characters except Muffin. And for those of you who don't like him, I'm sorry but I just had to add him in this chappie!_

_Chapter 26 _

_About a month later…_

Capsule Corporation seemed to be a beehive of activity as Bulma made her way up the path that lead to the front door. Summer had arrived, and with summer came the hustle and bustle of the gardeners that her mother employed to beautify the outside grounds of Capsule Corporation. Even though the weather stayed fairly mild all year long, there was definitely a change in the atmosphere, and her mother naturally took charge of having thousands of flowers planted in huge beds all along the property. Seeing the colors that were popping up all around the grounds made Bulma smile, thinking that her baby was going to be born in a couple of months when everything would still be in full bloom.

Taking in a deep breath, absorbing the smell of the pungent earth and fragrant bulbs, Bulma let her mind relax. It was invigorating to be outdoors at such a time of the year. Just taking in the air was a heady experience and she had a feeling that that her baby was probably enjoying this as much as she was. Patting her stomach absently, she started forward again, stopping at the front door. Carefully raising her arm, she rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer it. She had spent the morning shopping at the local hardware store, finally deciding on a color scheme for the baby's room. Even though she had a feeling her mother would disapprove of her going by herself and carrying the paint cans with her, she wasn't the type of person who liked being dictated to, even if it was her own mother Grumbling when her arms started to hurt from hanging onto the heavy cans, she was about to start shouting at the door when it finally opened up.

"Bulma! What are you doing?" Asked Mrs. Briefs as she looked at her daughter quizzically.

Rolling her eyes, Bulma thrust one of the cans of paint at her mother, letting out a breath of relief when she could finally stretch out her sore limb.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Do you think I enjoy standing at the front door looking like an idiot?" With that said, Bulma pushed her way past, which wasn't too hard considering the massive size of her stomach. Sometimes, it was kind of useful to use it like a beach ball, bouncing people out of the way. Laughing slightly, she started making her way towards the stairs before she was stopped by her mother's foolish sounding voice.

"Honey, did you walk all the way to the hardware store and back carrying that paint without putting it in a capsule? Don't you remember what Dr. Hushimata told you last week? You're supposed to be relaxing, not walking all over town."

Turning around as quickly as her body would allow, Bulma carefully placed the can of paint she was carrying onto a step so she wouldn't have to bend too far over to pick it up.

"Screw that dumb ass doctor! I can't stand being cooped up in this house. I'm not a weakling Mom and I don't have some strange disease! I'm pregnant and this weather is too nice to pass up." 'Wow Bulma, if that didn't just sound like something Vegeta would say, I don't know what would.' Sometimes it was almost scary how much his personality seemed to influence hers ever since they had bonded, even though he was most likely light years away. Or perhaps, there was something about him that brought out the less enduring traits of her personality that she already possessed. Whatever it was, it made her feel guilty, especially when she aimed her irrational anger at the one person in her life that was trying to support her through her first pregnancy.

Stepping closer to her guilty looking daughter, Mrs. Briefs let out a short sigh as she clasped her hands together in a nervous gesture. Bulma's spirits had seemed to definitely improve within the last month as she began to finally accept the fact that Vegeta would come back when he was ready to, but her moodiness had seemed to also come back as well. However, instead of dealing with sobbing interspersed with moments of pure happiness, Bulma was becoming somewhat darker of personality. Deciding to let it go, figuring it was just the stress of her pregnancy that was getting to her, Mrs. Briefs decided to move the subject along.

"Well honey, I suppose you're right, but just think about the baby. You aren't supposed to be doing any strenuous exercise or lifting. Now, I'm not telling you how to live your life, but as a mother myself, you have to start thinking about the baby first."

Shrugging her shoulders, Bulma decided not to respond. What was the point? She knew her mother was right, but she highly doubted carrying paint a couple of blocks was going to seriously damage her half Saiyan child. No doubt, it had probably inherited Vegeta's rock hard head along with his stupid stubbornness, a trait that she also possessed but was too vain to admit to having. Turning back around, she grabbed the paint can she had sat down and started slowly making her way up the stairs. Once she reached the top, she turned around and gave her mother a look, who was still standing at the bottom glancing absently at the wall. Smacking her forehead with the palm of her hand, Bulma shook her head in exasperation.

"Come on Mom! Are you going to help me out or what? We've got to get going on painting the nursery! Time is money!"

"Coming Bulma!" With that said, Mrs. Briefs also started up the stairs, following the form of her retreating daughter as she made her way to the spare room across from her own: the room designated as the baby's abode.

Before stepping into the room, Bulma sat her paint can down next to the doorframe. Suddenly, without warning, Bulma made a quick about face, almost running into her mother in the process. Putting her hands out to steady herself, she grabbed a hold of Mrs. Briefs' arms as they nearly teetered into the wall.

Holding onto Bulma, Mrs. Briefs let out a startled gasp as she found herself falling backwards. Planting her feet firmly into the ground, she made sure to stop the force of Bulma's body pushing into hers. Loosening her grip when their combined kinetic energy stopped, she backed away slightly, sudden concern flooding her usually vacant looking face.

"Bulma, sweetie, are you okay? The baby?" she asked as she held onto her daughter.

Bulma quickly backed away from her mother, feeling extremely foolish. Brushing some stray bangs out of her face, she felt a blush creep into her cheeks.

"Umm, no. I um, just forgot that Muffin's been in my room since I left. I wanted to let him out." And besides that, she suddenly had the urge to pee. That was one of the many things that she couldn't wait to get rid of once she had her baby. It was such a pain to have to go to the bathroom all the time! Crossing her legs and letting out a groan, she made a dash for her door, opening it quickly and running into the bathroom before she really humiliated herself.

Shaking her head slightly and covering her mouth with her hand free hand, Mrs. Briefs let out a silly laugh. She was about to turn around when a small bundle of energy ran through the open door and pounced on her legs.

Muffin had been cooped up in Bulma's room all morning, which meant that the little dog was even more energetic than usual. Bouncing up and down all around Mrs. Briefs, he let out shrill barks every few seconds, which only made Mrs. Briefs' laughter increase. Bending over, she sat her paint can down as she picked up the squirming dog, tittering as it licked all over her face.

"You poor thing, always stuck in Bulma's room. Well, you're going to help us paint, aren't you, you goofy little munchkin! Yes you are!" Mrs. Briefs said in her best baby voice. Figuring it was good practice for her grandchild, she continued to make nonsense talk to the dog, which only increased Muffin's sloppy little poochie kisses all over her perfectly made up face.

"Ugh Mom, what on earth are you doing to my dog?"

Turning around, Mrs. Briefs smiled as she saw Bulma looking at her with a mixture of disgust and laughter on her face. Bending over slightly, she let go of the dog and watched as it scampered over to Bulma, happily running around her legs instead.

"Nothing much. I'm just practicing for when I get to hold my grandbaby. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Closing her eyes slightly and shaking her head, Bulma crossed her arms and stuck out her hip.

"Mom, I swear I'm never going to understand what goes on in that head of yours. But I definitely do not want you to treat my child like a dog. That's just…just retarded. Besides, I don't want to find you fried to a cinder because Vegeta sees you treating his offspring like an idiot. And believe me, if he ever comes back, he doesn't seem like the kind of father who would put up with overly sentimental nonsense."

Shrugging her shoulders at her daughter, the two of them once again found themselves hauling the paint into the soon to be nursery. Putting them on a work table that had been brought up from the lab, the two women went around and arranged the drop cloths that were covering the floor, making it possible for them to work without the fear of spilling paint onto the carpeting. Standing and looking around the room that resembled a blank canvas, both Mrs. Briefs and Bulma found themselves lost in thought about how cute the room was going to look and about the upcoming birth.

Clearing her throat, Bulma grabbed a pan and a roller. Popping the lid to the paint with a screwdriver, she was satisfied to see that they hadn't messed up her order at the hardware store. Stirring the paint, she began to pour it into the pan. Glancing around, she saw her mother pushing a ladder up against one of the walls and she saw Muffin wrestling with one of the drop cloths; playing tug of war with his sharp, little teeth.

"Bulma, I don't see why you couldn't have had a contractor come in here and paint. You really shouldn't being doing this. What if you get hurt?"

What was it with her mother lately? Didn't she understand her need to fill in the role that Vegeta had abandoned when he had left for space to train? It wasn't like he would have taken the time to decorate a nursery anyway, but it was the principle of the matter. And she was going to do everything in her power to prove to the world that until Vegeta came back, she was perfectly able of filling in both the shoes of mother and father to her unborn child.

Frowning at her mother, she let out a snort of air through her nostrils.

"Look Mom, I'm not going to argue with you about this. I can handle painting. I know it's going to be difficult to maneuver around with my big stomach, but I want to do this. So let's just drop it, okay? Besides, I thought you were all excited about decorating. I know it's one of your favorite hobbies Mom." And that was the truth. The only problem with her mother's decorating was that her ideas had the tendency to be over the top. However, at least in the case of the nursery, Bulma had helped to steer the direction onto a theme that both of them could agree on. And since Vegeta wasn't there, he would just have to deal with the flights of fancy that both his mate and mother-in-law had when it came to decorating for a baby.

Watching as her mother nodded her head absently, Bulma walked over with the paint. Carefully, she lifted it up and placed it on the ladder her mother had propped up against the wall. Walking back over to the table, she got another pan ready and brought it over. This was where it got tricky. Carefully, she squatted down and bent over, making sure to not fall over from the extra weight centered in her middle. Setting the paint on the drop cloth, she put her hands forward and placed them against the wall, using it as a support to push her awkward body back into an upright standing position. Sticking her tongue out in concentration, she finally found herself standing back up. She really couldn't wait until she had her old body back. It was starting to become a pain having to adjust her body to do the things that she had never had to think about before she became as big as a house.

Wiping her brow, Bulma put her hand on her lower back, feeling a twinge of pain from her strange posture. Maybe painting was going to be more difficult than she had anticipated.

"Hey Mom, why don't I use the ladder and get the high places and you paint from the floor up?"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. What if you fall off the ladder?"

Letting out a growl of exasperation, Bulma could start to feel her temper and blood pressure rise. She was really starting to get sick of being treated like some sort of invalid. She was pregnant for god's sake, not seriously ill!

"Mom, I'm not going to fall off of the ladder! The only way that will happen is if you accidentally run into it while I'm on it. And the truth is, there is no way that I'm going to be able to paint from the floor up without getting stuck. I hate my body!"

Deciding it was probably wise not to piss Bulma off any more than she already was, Mrs. Briefs decided to go against her better judgement and let her headstrong daughter use the ladder. She had sinking feeling however that Bulma was going to have just as much trouble painting from a ladder as she would from the ground. Keeping her mouth shut, she stepped away from the device and made her way over to where Bulma was standing, steaming about the current situation.

Walking over to the ladder, Bulma carefully made her way up a few steps. Taking the roller, she dipped it into the paint, which was a nice pastel green color. Both she and her mother had decided on a safari them with giraffes, zebras, elephants, lions, and monkeys. Besides finding plenty of bedding, accessories and toys, it was something that would work well for either or a boy or a girl and it was just such a cute idea – Bulma couldn't let it pass. The color scheme they had come up with was pastel green and light gold. The walls were going to be green and the molding was going to be done in the gold color. Once the paint was dry, they were going to put up a border that had crayon drawings of safari animals. Since they had already bought the furniture and accessories for the room, once the painting and border was done, it would be a snap to put the nursery together. Then all they would have to do was wait for the moment the baby made an appearance into the world to complete the picture.

Leaning forward, ignoring the feeling of the ladder pushing into her rounded abdomen, Bulma stretched upward and started to apply paint in swift strokes to the blank, white wall. In no time at all, both her mother and herself had the first coat of paint on the wall finished. But such a quick pace didn't last for very long as Bulma found herself getting tired and sore from the strain the ladder placed on her body; both from standing on it and from the constant need to get down and move it along the wall. Sweating slightly, she let out a tired pant as she tried to readjust her equilibrium. But it wasn't any use. She was about to say something to her mother when she let out a strangled shriek.

Dropping her roller onto the drop cloth, Mrs. Briefs quickly scampered over to where her daughter was standing on the ladder, looking visibly pale.

"Bulma, what's the matter baby?"

"Oh my God!" Bulma shouted, her face suddenly taking on a shade of red. Turning around to the spot where Bulma was staring, Mrs. Briefs finally figured out what was making her daughter act so strangely.

Not very far away from the two of them, the paint pan that Mrs. Briefs had been using was turned over, paint splattered across the drop cloth it was sitting on. And right next to it was a very filthy and very guilty looking Muffin who's once pristine white coat was mottled with green.

Finding the situation both amusing and horrifying at the same time, Mrs. Briefs let out a strangled laugh as she hurriedly made her way over to the filthy dog and the mess he had just created. Picking up the sorry looking excuse for a mutt, Mrs. Briefs also flipped the paint pan over, glad that it was almost empty and hadn't made too much of a mess on the cloth. They would just have to be careful not to step on it until it dried, otherwise they would end tracking paint all the way around Capsule Corporation, and she really didn't want to have to have the work bots going around cleaning it up.

Turning around, she found herself face to face with her enraged looking daughter.

"Now Bulma, let's not get too hasty. There was hardly any paint left in that pan and Muffin really didn't do any damage. I'll just take him downstairs to get cleaned up and then we can keep going with the painting." She was about so say more when she noticed her daughter take her eyes off of her and fasten them on the doorway behind where they were standing. Crinkling her eyebrows, she craned her head around to see what the disturbance was this time. And it was certainly not what she had expected.

"What on Earth are you doing in here?" Asked a familiar and irritated sounding masculine voice from the doorway.

&&&

It had been months since he had been back to Capsule Corporation. Months in which he had had plenty of time to reflect upon his relationship with the current heiress and what direction he wanted it to go in. The truth was, he had missed her more than even he had thought possible. Sure, they hadn't really separated from one another on good terms, but maybe she would be willing to let the both of them have another chance. It wasn't like she had ever given chances before in the past. For all that she could be a complete bitch at times, she was probably one of the most forgiving people he had ever met. Besides that, he had found his life empty and without purpose without her by his side and things definitely had not been going smoothly for him in the past couple of months.

Walking up to the front door, he didn't even bother to ring the doorbell. Pushing it open, he turned his head to the side and nodded slightly to one of the many gardeners that Mrs. Briefs employed during the summer, noticing that the man gave him a nervous glance as he made his way inside the immense mansion. Even though most of the time he felt like he wasn't respected as a warrior among the Z-fighters, the one thing he could say about the people of Capsule Corporation is that they knew who he was and they treated him like he thought he deserved to be treated. Not like some bum off the street but almost like royalty. Besides, he had been practically married into the family, so it only seemed logical that the employees treated him like he was one of the gang.

Shaking his head over his errant thoughts, he finished pulling the door open and quickly stepped inside. Stopping inside the foyer, he looked at his reflection in the mirror, noticing how muscular he was and how his training really looked like it was paying off. He was definitely going to be more than ready for the stupid Androids and he was really beginning to wonder if that strange boy from the future had told them the truth about their deadly powers. He was one of the strongest fighters on Earth and it did seem a little melodramatic to him that all the Z-Senshi were supposedly going to die against the monstrosities that would claim so many lives in the future. Still, he really didn't want to die, especially since he'd already experienced death at the hands of a fierce and violent enemy once before. He had big plans for his future and dying wasn't part of the picture.

Brushing off some dust from his outfit, he decided his next course of action would be to find Bulma. Normally, he would have gone down to the lab, but as he was standing in the foyer, he had heard her unmistakable voice coming from upstairs. Smiling slightly to himself, he started to climb the stairs noticing that nothing had really changed in the house since he had been gone. It was just like this place to stay the same while the world around them was changing. Still, that was one of the things he had discovered that he appreciated about Capsule Corporation. For all that it came out with new technology and gadgets, the Corporation itself was a constant through out all the changes the world had gone through since he had first become acquainted with the family.

Once on the landing, he followed the source of Bulma's unmistakable voice. Upon reaching her bedroom, he was puzzled when he discovered that her location was across the hall in one of the spare bedrooms that littered the mansion. Making his way cautiously to the doorway, he found himself covering his ears when he heard her let out an earsplitting shriek. Wondering what all the commotion was about, he pressed the button to open the door, waiting for it to slide open. Once it was open, he found himself looking at a most unusual scene. The room was empty of all furniture except for a table that had open paint containers sitting on top of it. Mrs. Briefs was holding onto Bulma's paint covered mutt and Bulma looked as though she was ready to strangle the dog. That's when her eyes suddenly turned and focused on him and that's when he decided to spit out the first words that came to his mouth.

"What on Earth are you doing in here?"

"What does it look like we're doing in here, dumbass? Look at the clues and I'm sure your limited intelligence can figure it out for yourself. And since when was it okay to just barge into a private residence without the benefit of ringing the doorbell or calling ahead? But then, I guess people never change old habits."

Watching as Bulma dropped what looked suspiciously like a paint roller onto the table, he backed up nervously and swallowed slightly, not liking the look in her eyes.

"Uh, I guess I should have knocked, but come on Bulma! Since when did you have an attitude about letting your friends, especially ones that practically lived with you, come to your house without an invitation? I didn't think it would be a big deal."

Stepping closer to the retreating man and ignoring her mother's attempts to grab a hold of her before she did something irrational, Bulma let out a snort of sardonic laughter. He had to be deluding himself if he thought she was just going to welcome her back into her house with open arms, especially after what he had done the last time she had seen him. What a joke!

"Get a life! I'm not a stupid overly romantic kid anymore and I know the only reason you're here is to try to make amends so you can get back in the sack with me. Well, shove off! I don't want or need you in my life anymore. You treated me like crap and I'm not going to put up with it."

Feeling his own irritation beginning to rise, he forgot about his nervousness and stepped even closer to the enraged woman standing in front of him.

"Look Bulma, you're being irrational here. Maybe I do want to give things another shot between the two of us. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately in the last couple of months and I've come to a conclusion. You and I are part of each other. I can't spend the rest of my life without you by my side and I'll wait for you to come to the same conclusion. I just decided to come back over today because I missed being away from you. I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean to say such rude things about you. But you have to admit, you really know how to get a guy's temper going." That was definitely the truth. Bulma just never knew when to shut her mouth, especially when she would start in on a tangent about some perceived wrong. It was enough to drive anyone crazy.

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I haven't really missed you that much at all. I've been too busy worrying about other things to really notice. So why don't you just turn around and leave the way you came in. I just don't have the time or patience to deal with you right now. I've got a ton of shit to finish up at the moment and you'll just be in the way." With that, she started to turn her back to him which was when he finally noticed something that was so obvious, he couldn't believe he had missed it from the beginning.

"God Bulma, you're pregnant."

Turning back around slowly, she gave him smile that was anything but warm as she proceeded to rip away any illusions he had about the two of them getting back together again.

"Yeah. So nice of you to finally notice. That's usually what happens when to people engage in consensual sex without the use of protection. So save your nasty comments and idiotic jealousy because I really don't want to hear it Yamcha."

With that said, he found himself feeling faint. Before he could stop himself, he fell to the floor holding his head, trying to figure out when she had finally moved on enough to allow for something like this to happen in the first place.

_Meanwhile…_

"So you're telling me that you don't have the intelligence to figure out how to fix the blasted contraption and I've just been wasting my valuable time as you sit on your asses twiddling your fingers? That is not a satisfactory answer!"

The short green alien nervously glanced over at his brother as they backed away from the enraged looking man standing before them. It was bad enough that they didn't have the parts available to fix what was wrong with the man's spaceship, but it was even worse that the said man was none other than Prince Vegeta. Although it was a commonly known fact in this quadrant of the galaxy that Frieza and his father no longer reigned supreme in the galaxy, he was old enough to have been told horror stories about the Cold Regime and some of their more prominent galactic terrorists. The name of Prince Vegeta was one that his household had grown up fearing. So it was no wonder at that exact moment he turned around and started to run as fast as his legs could carry him out the nearby door. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite fast enough to make it to safety away from his irate customer.

Vegeta casually fazed in front of the doorway that led out of the docking bay where his ship was currently sitting.

"Going somewhere? If this is how you treat your customers, I'm amazed you've managed to stay in business this long." Smiling viciously, Vegeta picked up the small creature by the collar of his shirt and threw him over to where his cowering assistant was standing.

Walking carefully over to where the two aliens where huddling on the ground, Vegeta bent down onto his haunches so that he could look into their terrified eyes. It had been such a long time since he'd been able to really quell anyone into submission and he was reveling in the fact that he still had so much power over the weak. It was too bad this discovery had to come at the cost of trying to find someone in the surrounding area that had the expertise necessary to fix his gravity simulator. It was taking far too much time and effort to fix, but he would be damned if he was going to crawl back to Bulma for some much needed repairs. He still had his pride, even though such a move on his part would probably amount to less trouble in the long run. In all honesty, he just wasn't ready to face his mate at the moment. He was still trying to patch his mental walls back to the way they had been before he had bonded with her _and_ he still hadn't managed to figure out how to become a Super Saiyan.

Shaking his head slightly to clear it of any thoughts related to the woman he was mated to, he carefully picked up both aliens and then shoved them up against the outside frame of his spaceship.

"It's too bad you don't know how to fix my ship. Too bad for you and too bad for your little business venture. But you really blew your chance when you tried to take the coward's way out by trying to get past me through the doorway. Do you think that I'm stupid enough to let you get away with such a stunt?"

He watched in glee as both creatures shook their heads in a terrified motion. It was almost amusing how when one's life was threatened, they forgot to hold onto their pride in the face of their enemy. Part of him enjoyed creating such a feeling of helplessness but a smaller part of him was sickened by it. It was eerie how such behavior on his part mimicked the way Frieza had treated him growing up. The only difference was that he had never given Frieza the satisfaction of seeing him cower in submission just as these fools were doing to him. It was his own personal rule that in order to survive in the universe, you had to become strong because in the end, only your own motives and actions were going to protect you. Obviously, these weaklings had yet to learn this very important lesson and it would be up to him to show them exactly the price that cowardice was going to bring them.

Dropping the two creatures in disgust, Vegeta dusted off his white gloved hands and started heading towards the entry hatch of his ship. Pressing a button on a remote pad, he watched as the door swung down, creating a ramp up into the ship. He was about start walking up the ramp when he heard one of the cowards speak up.

"Uh, sorry to bother you sir, b…b….but y…y…you haven't paid yet."

Turning around quickly, Vegeta crossed his arms and threw back his head in laughter.

"What a joke! Are you trying to be a comedian or are you just a fucking idiot? I refuse to pay for something that was not done to my satisfaction. Maybe you should have thought of that when you told me there was nothing you could do for the damaged parts." With that, he was about to turn around and start back up towards his ship when the other alien took something out that looked suspiciously like a ray gun of some sort. Narrowing his eyes, Vegeta was about to decide exactly how foolish the two idiots were when the one with the gun spoke up.

"I'm warning you, if you don't pay my brother this instant, I'll be forced to shoot you."

If it weren't for the fact that the little man looked like he was about to pass out from terror, Vegeta would have made quick work of the two idiots. But instead, he found himself amused over their audacity and he was curious to see if they would be brave enough to carry through with their threat. Frowning slightly, he cocked his head to the side and looked at the two bakas quizzically.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Are you going to shoot that ridiculous weapon at me or not? I'm waiting."

The alien with the gun swallowed nervously. He'd never before had to use his stun gun, mostly because the aliens that tried to swindle he and his brother out of their pay were more than willing to throw money at them when faced with a gun pointed at them. But from all the accounts he had heard about Prince Vegeta, the man had almost inhuman strength and it was nerve racking to be taunted into doing something he really wasn't looking forward to participating in. Shakily pushing his finger down on the trigger, the little man closed his eyes and dropped to the ground in panic when he heard and felt his gun discharge. After what seemed like eternity, but was more likely only a few seconds, the alien uncovered his head and opened his eyes, slowly standing up to survey what ever damage he had created. Unfortunately, the sight that greeted his eyes did nothing to bolster his confidence in using a weapon against a powerful opponent.

Standing with his arms crossed and a triumphant evil looking grin attached to his face was Prince Vegeta. And by the looks of it, his gun didn't seem to have had any effect on him whatsoever. Throwing the weapon to the ground at Prince Vegeta's feet, he waited with his head held high for his inevitable death.

Stepping towards the idiot who had shot at him, Vegeta casually kicked his pathetic brother out of the way as he came forward, who was still cowering on the ground. Moving in so that he was almost bodily touching the smaller alien, Vegeta sneered down at the obviously frightened man.

"So, you have some small amount of pride locked away inside your pitiable body. That's good. Just because of that, I might actually let you live. Let it never be said that Prince Vegeta is not a gracious man when he wishes to be. But honestly, whatever gave you the idea that that stupid weapon would be able to harm me in any way? You must really live on the fringes of the galaxy to not realize the sheer strength of a Saiyan Elite such as myself. Allow me to demonstrate it for you."

Without warning, Vegeta yanked the man upright by his shirt so that his feet were dangling in the air. He then concentrated a small amount of ki in his hand. Before the man even had time to react, Vegeta released his ki into the man's weapon bearing arm, watching in satisfaction as the offending arm and weapon were cleanly severed off and disintegrated as the man was rocketed away from him. Walking over to the screaming man who was now lying on the floor, he put his boot squarely in his chest and stood over him, bending over to wipe his gloves in a derogatory manner on the man's shirt.

"Stop sniveling like a sissy. You'll live. And maybe next time, you won't be so quick to challenge those above you in authority."

Not caring that he had most likely ended the man's career as a mechanic, Vegeta made his way back to his waiting spaceship, sneering nastily at the other brother who was still cowering against the floor. Walking up the ramp, he made his way inside and then quickly closed the door. Making his way over to the control center, he flipped on the ship's engines, waiting for them to fire up. Looking through the viewscreen, he noticed that the hanger door was still firmly shut. Growling under his breath, he radioed back to the mechanics, waiting for one of the idiots to answer his call. In a few seconds, the cowardly brother's face appeared in front of him.

"Idiot, open the bay door unless you want me to crash through it and see you sucked out into deep space." With that said, he cut off the communication link and waited for the door to open. Thankfully, the moron had gotten it into his head that whatever Vegeta said, he was more than likely serious about carrying out his threats. Within a few seconds, the bay doors were open and Vegeta found himself once again in deep space.

Letting out a sigh, he went over to his bed and sat down. God's above, he was so sick of everything going wrong on this stupid trip! He'd had to replace all of his food stores, all because of a fault in the refrigeration system of the food storage capsules. Thankfully, he'd been able to find someone who could repair the problem, but finding enough food to last him for a good long while had taken some time. More time than he had planned on wasting while flying around in space trying to become a Super Saiyan. And then there was the stupid gravity simulator. He'd made due without it, but he wasn't getting the training that he required in order to finally reach his peak. And so far, the technology his mate and her father had invented was for once more advanced than the technology available throughout the rest of the quadrant. This was the third space station he'd stopped at to see if someone could fix the damn thing. He was beginning to despair that the only way it would be fixed is if he turned around and went back to Earth. And he would not allow himself to come back like a whipped dog. The last thing he wanted or needed was to have Bulma crowing over him because he hadn't been able to stay away.

Combing his fingers through his spiky hair, he was about to get up and find something to eat when a beep sounded out on the ship telling him there was an incoming communication from someone. Muttering under his breath, Vegeta made his way to the control panel and opened up an outgoing communication link. In less than a second, the figure of an uniformed alien appeared across his screen.

"Prince Vegeta, by order of the Commander in charge of Secos VI Intergalactic Space Station, you are under arrest."

"_What? _ And just what am I under arrest for?" What a load of shit! This was the last thing he wanted to have to deal with at the moment.

"You are under arrest for bodily injuring a key member of their repair personal as well as for leaving without paying for services rendered. I suggest you stop where you are and return or will have to choice but to attack you."

Glowering at the officer, Vegeta quickly changed the viewscreen over to see exactly what his ship was up against if he refused. Seeing ten single manned fighters closing in on him, he flipped the channel back to the bastard who was ordering his return.

"You are a complete and total idiot if you think that paltry force is going to make me turn around and come back to that hovel you call a space station. In fact, I would advise you to tell your men to back off because they really will not like to face my wrath should you attack."

"Prince Vegeta, be reasonable here. I was told your ship has no weapon systems and you can't outmaneuver my men. They're much too fast. It would be much better for you if you just cooperate."

Clenching his teeth in exasperation, Vegeta couldn't believe how utterly backwards and completely stupid the aliens of this sector were. To think that he would be intimidated by a handful of space fighters was beyond ridiculous. Perhaps he really had been gone for far too long to allow people to forget just how powerful he was. Turning his face back to the man on his viewscreen, he shook his head in mock sadness.

"For the last time, I refuse to comply with your wishes. And I will not warn you again. Either you have your men turn around or they will soon find out that Prince Vegeta is not a man to be toyed or trifled with." When the captain still refused to call his men off, Vegeta shrugged his shoulders and cut the communication link off.

Stopping his ship's movement, he made his way to the entryway. Turning on the airlock, he opened the door. Suddenly, he felt an exhilaration he hadn't felt in a long while: the joy of the hunt. Powering up, he waited for the fighters to come into position. Smirking mirthlessly, Vegeta moved his hands from his side so that they were facing forward. When the ships were within range, he hollered out in rage as he fired a massive gallic gun, watching in satisfaction as the ships quickly exploded, their flames being sucked out by the vacuum of deep space. Quickly turning around, he closed the door and made his way back to the control center. Opening up the communication link, he scoffed at the terrified expression the captain had on his oversized face.

"I warned you Captain. Now you have the deaths of those ten idiots on your conscious. Next time, I won't give you any warning. So if you're a somewhat intelligent being, I'd lay off if I where you." With that said, Vegeta cut of the communication link entirely knowing that the idiot would comply with his request.

Moving over to the food storage area, Vegeta grabbed a capsule and made his way back to his bed. Sitting down and crossing his legs, he popped the capsule and started to eat what was in front of him. Swallowing a mouthful, he contemplated the events of the day. Sure, he had just killed ten men, but there was something about his actions that was bothering him. After a few minutes of silent contemplation, it hit him over the head like a ton of bricks. He had been merciful. By most standards, he really hadn't been at all and no doubt, if Kakarot had seen his display of violence, the idiot would have chided him over his behavior. But in all honesty, it wasn't like him to let someone live after they had threatened him. In most instances, because of that idiot mechanic's audacity and sheer idiocy in shooting at him, he would have not only destroyed the creature, but the entire space station as a lesson not to ever cross swords with him. Yet all he had done was injure the man and then he had left. Besides that, he had given the commander numerous times to call his men off. In the end, he had had no qualms killing the idiots but the fact remained that he had given them a chance to escape. What was happening to him that he allowed for such a thing to occur in the first place? Was he really starting to turn soft?

"Bah, I'm spending way to much time trying to figure out what the hell's going on in my head. Next time, I'll just kill everyone and then I won't have to worry about turning into an imbecile."

Shaking his head in disgust, he finished his food and then lay down across his bed, putting his hands behind his head. If he didn't stop analyzing his every move, he was going to drive himself even further into insanity than he already was. Closing his eyes, he relaxed a bit and then found himself concentrating on connecting with Bulma. He hated the fact that he found himself doing it more and more often as the months went by, but he supposed that was how Saiyans had stayed connected with one another when they had spent years apart on separate purging missions before his planet had been destroyed by Frieza. Relaxing deeper into the lumpy mattress, he focused his mind into the link he shared with Bulma waiting to catch a glimpse of what she was doing at that particular moment.

He didn't have long to wait when he found himself feeling her emotions. At the moment, she was angry and irritated but there was also a fading feeling of happiness. No doubt, someone had just pissed her off. Chuckling at the image of Bulma screaming at someone, he caught a glimpse of his mate briefly before the image became blank. She was wearing something completely atrocious and her body looked sort of like the way she was in his dreams. She seemed safe and secure and by the looks of it, his brat still hadn't made it into the world yet. More then likely, he would get a better glimpse of Bulma when he fell asleep. Letting out a deep breath, he slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. Getting back off of his bed, he made his way to the center of the spaceship. He didn't have time to think about Bulma. He had to train and train he would.

_Hope this chapter wasn't too confusing. I hope you weren't too disappointed that Vegeta hasn't come back to Bulma yet. Rest assured, he will eventually. But when, that will be the mystery! So…what will Yamcha say to Bulma after he recovers from his shock? And will the gravity simulator ever get fixed for poor Vegeta? The answers to these burning questions will be revealed in the next chapter! And please, please review! _


	27. Chapter 27

_Here it is! The next chapter. Please excuse its length. It's a long one, but I hope you like it none the less. And thanks to koolkat01, HannibalFrost (If you guys want to read a good story where Vegeta finally gets to save the world, read his story "DragonBall Eternal Universes: The Garrick Saga"), SilverWing145 ("All About Us" is a really good B/V high school fic! Read it!), Nish095081 (Another really great B/V with a twist is Nish's story "All I Want"), Miu 09, The Al Bhed Princess, Bulma and Vegeta fan, Saiya-jin Queen, Chazie (Another really great story with a B/V, one of my favorites is "This Ship Ain't Big Enough for the Two of You! Read it, you won't be sorry!), MissKira, SuperMaz, and Cappuccino Penguin (if you really want to read some well written fan fiction, check out CP's stories "Trunks and the Saiyahealthian Princess" and "Vegeta and Bulma How it really happened!" You won't be disappointed!). Thanks you guys! _

_ Chapter 27_

Looking up slightly from his position on the floor, Yamcha felt numb. Here he had thought he could just walk back into Capsule Corporation and pick up where they had left off months ago, only to find himself feeling like a first rate idiot. Sure, he'd gone out with a score of new girls and he certainly had enjoyed his 'training' sessions at the local gym, checking out all the girls in the aerobics classes, but he had also really missed Bulma. There was just something about her bossy nature and quirky personality that he didn't think he could live without. And ever since the day of the picnic, when he had made an ass out of himself in front of their friends, he'd been trying to figure out a way to get back into Bulma's good graces. Now, however, things were even more messed up than before. Here she had obviously moved on, and what was more, she was pregnant. And for some reason, that's what bothered and upset him the most.

"Yamcha, are you deaf or what? I told you to leave. Stop acting like such a sissy. It's not like you didn't know we were over."

Listening to Bulma's bitchy voice, Yamcha really started to feel panic. She'd never acted like that before when he'd tried to hook up with her again after a breakup. It was like she truly couldn't stand being in the same room as him. Standing up slowly, he tried to piece it together, and the only solution he came up with was that it had to be Vegeta's attitude rubbing off onto her.

"Bulma, what ever happened to us being friends? You never used to act so cold to me, so what changed? I mean besides the fact that you're, um, knocked up."

Bulma let out an exasperated huff and watched as her mother carefully tiptoed out of the room carrying a very dirty Muffin with her. Crossing her arms and tapping her fingers impatiently on them, she glanced over to where Yamcha was finally moving his fat ass.

Why did he have to show up, especially now, when things were far from perfect between her and Vegeta? She didn't want to have to explain her poor choices to him and deep down inside, she was still angry with him for his cheating all those months ago. On the surface, most people thought of her as a very forgiving person, but in reality, she held grudges. And sometimes those grudges lasted for years before she finally put them to rest. Right now, besides still being extremely angry with Vegeta for leaving her at such a crucial time in her life, she still hadn't forgiven Yamcha either. She knew it wasn't a healthy behavior, but until he actually told her was sorry and said it with meaning, she didn't have it in her to keep playing the understanding female. She supposed now was as good a time as any to explain this to her rather dim-witted ex-boyfriend.

"Can't you figure it out Yamcha? You…cheated…on…me! And then you came back here and accused me of the same behavior when you knew it wasn't true! I may have played the part of dutiful, desperate girlfriend in the past, but not anymore. You can't expect me to just forgive you, especially since you've never actually truly apologized for your atrocious behavior to begin with." Circling around Yamcha, she walked over to the doorway and pointed her arm out towards the hallway. "Just leave."

Nervously pushing his cropped hair back with a stray hand, Yamcha stood where he had been sitting, making no visible effort to heed Bulma's orders.

"Okay already. I'm really sorry for…for kissing that girl in the restaurant. That was bad of me and I'll never do it again."

God, why was he even saying anything to her? He didn't want her in the state she was in. The idea of taking care of another man's child was revolting to him, yet here he was, trying to make reparations with his very pregnant ex. He was confusing himself. Unfortunately, Bulma looked like she wasn't buying into his plea for forgiveness. Watching her shake her head, he felt himself visibly slump from her repeated rejections of him.

"Sorry Yamcha, that's not going to cut it this time. You know, I don't even understand why I bother! Like I said before, you never change and you will never admit to cheating on me. At least…." She was about to say something about Vegeta, but she cut herself off before she incriminated herself further in front of Yamcha. Knowing him, he'd just turn her statements into further 'proof' of her alleged infidelity, even though he knew full well that it was all a lie. And in that respect, he was just like a typical male: unwilling to admit to his own faults, but more than willing to pin any blame on a likely female target. They were such fucking hypocrites, all of them. Vegeta included.

"At least what?"

"At least nothing!" Bulma yelled as she shook her head in annoyance. "Ugh! How many times do I have to tell you to get out? I'm counting to five and if you aren't out of here, I'm going to kick your sorry bum all the way out to the curb!"

Stepping closer to Bulma, Yamcha instantly regretted it when she sharply slapped him in the arm. She really did have quite a swing on her and he was smart enough to back away before she got the idea in her head to push him out of the way with her immense, rounded stomach.

"You're starting to act just like Vegeta! And where exactly is that bastard? I saw the Capsule ship he was training in has disappeared again. Maybe he took off for good this time. It's not like we need him around anyway to fight those stupid Androids. Goku'll be more than enough to be beat them." Yamcha scoffed arrogantly, still thinking they would be a piece of cake to fight.

"Oh just get off it, will you? Listen to yourself! You sound pathetic. At least Vegeta has enough pride not to simply rely on another person to get him out of a sticky situation. You're such a coward sometimes! I don't even know why you're bothering to train at all. We both know as soon as trouble shows up, you'll find some convenient excuse to back out of it without raising a finger to help."

Yamcha swallowed and stared at Bulma. He had forgotten how extremely venomous her tongue could be when she was in a snit and those last comments had really cut to the quick. Feeling his own ire beginning to rise, he felt his face starting to become flushed with unexpressed emotion.

"That's not true and you know it! Who was it that died fighting the Saiyans to begin with? Me! I'm not like Yajirobe. And now, you're taking sides with the creep that was responsible for my death along with Tien's, Chioutzu's and Piccolo's! You're such a bitch sometimes babe!"

At that point, he had forgotten his uneasiness in his rage and was shouting straight into Bulma's surprised face. It was like a festering wound that had been eating away at him ever since they had broken up had finally come to the surface and burst. And with it came the realization that he was jealous of Vegeta and how Bulma seemed to give the jerk unlimited breaks whereas she just pushed him to the side as though he were nothing more than garbage. On top of that, he couldn't understand how she could defend such an evil person. It was bizarre, not to mention a bit worrisome.

"Oh yeah, well if I'm a bitch, you're an ass! GET OUT!" Bulma shrieked. She knew she wasn't supposed to get this angry because it would raise her blood pressure, but she sure as hell wasn't going to explain herself to Yamcha. Besides, the things he had said were all true and it did bother her just a miniscule amount. Even though Vegeta so far had treated her worse than Yamcha ever had, she was still willing and waiting for him to return and she couldn't give Yamcha the same sort of treatment. She knew part of that had to do with the bonding thing and the fact that Vegeta hadn't strayed with another woman, but she had a feeling that when he returned, she would try to smooth things over with him like her mother had suggested. Unfortunately for Yamcha, she was still unwilling to concede anything to him.

"No way Bulma! I'm not walking out with my tail between my legs like I did the last time at your stupid ass barbecue! I just want to know what's so wrong that you can't even stand the sight of me anymore. Yet you live with the most evil person that's ever come to this planet. Just give me some clarification and then I'll leave and never bother you again." With that, he plopped himself back down onto the floor and crossed his arms, waiting for her to explain.

Rubbing the back of her neck, Bulma half closed her eyes and looked towards the half-finished wall. She really didn't feel the need to justify anything to Yamcha. However, it was wrong of her to keep treating him like some kind of leper. They had been friends for a long time, longer than she had known Vegeta. It was just easier to not have him around as a reminder of how terrible her history with men went.

"Look Yamcha, I just want you to know that it's over between us. It was over a long time ago. I'm going to have a baby in two months time and that's what I need to concentrate on. And as far as ever having another boyfriend, well, that's out of the picture too." Leaning against the table that the paint was sitting on, Bulma watched warily as her statements sunk into his hard head.

"But why Bulma? I mean, maybe our romance was over a while back like you keep insisting. I don't know. I just can't see myself with anyone but you. I'd even take you back looking the way you do right now."

Narrowing her eyes at Yamcha, Bulma mentally counted backwards before she let his stupid comment cause her blood pressure to rise yet again.

"There is _no_ taking _me _back, understand? I'm not some piece of meat that you can grab and pull around with you when you feel the need to have a serious relationship. Sorry to tell you that _Yamcha!_"

Swallowing slightly, Yamcha felt a little embarrassed over is faux pas, but he wasn't a gifted conversationalist and most of the time, he just said whatever came to mind.

"Look, that's not what I meant babe, honest!" Scratching his scalp, he tried to come up with another way to phrase the point he was trying to get across. "All I'm trying to say is that I still want you as my girlfriend and I'll try to be a good, um, dad to the baby you're going to have if you'd just give me another chance." There. Hopefully, that made more sense and wouldn't cause Bulma to go off the deep end again. He didn't want to be there if he caused her to go into premature labor because of her tremendous temper.

Bulma let out a little gasp of surprise. That was the last thing she had pictured Yamcha saying. Especially since she remembered back to the time when that kid came back from the future to warn them about the Androids. Goku had said something about her having a healthy baby, and Yamcha had gotten all weird on her. As she recalled, he hadn't slept with her for a month afterwards. Not because he didn't want her like that, he had assured her. He just wanted to make sure he didn't become a father unnecessarily. Feeling a kernel of self-doubt start to take seed, she wondered if she had been somewhat hasty in permanently breaking it off with Yamcha. Yet, there was no going back to the way things used to be, even if for some bizarre reason, he was still trying to reconcile things to the way they were. Pushing her doubt to the side, she decided the best thing to do was make sure that Yamcha realize how futile his attempts to re-cement their relationship were.

"Oh really? Well, what makes you think that I don't already have a man in my life, hmmm? What gives you the idea that my baby doesn't have a father?"

"Well, um, there…there's the fact that you're painting the baby's room with your mom. Usually, that's the dad's job. At least I think it is." That was really the only excuse he could think of. It hadn't crossed his mind that whoever had knocked her up had decided to stick around. "Oh yeah, you don't have a wedding ring on." Bingo!

"Oh, your such a genius Yamcha! I mean really, I didn't know you had such immense powers of deductive reasoning. Well, let me clarify some things for you, 'kay?"

Pushing herself away from the table that was supporting her back, Bulma put her left arm out in front of her, using it as a tool to gesticulate her point.

"One: Maybe I'm painting the baby's room because I'm a revolutionary woman and I decided to take over the man's role. Perhaps the baby's father is out buying the clothes, toys and diapers. It's called role reversal. Two: who says you have to be married to make a baby? Maybe I don't want to give up my freedom by shackling myself down to a man like that. Maybe I just like having a platonic relationship with fringe benefits. There could be numerous reasons why I don't have a wedding band, and none of them point to not having a man around."

"Well, okay then. So who is this mystery guy anyway? I'd like to tell him congratulations. You know, for catching the prettiest woman in the world." If there were such a man, she'd have no reason not to introduce him. Smirking slightly over his own brilliance, he missed Bulma's face as all of the blood drained out of it before she managed to catch a hold of her composure.

"Um, well, he's out of town at the moment. He had some…some important business to attend to."

"_Sure_ Bulma," Yamcha replied slyly. "He must be a real wanker to leave you when you look like you're about to pop at any second. God, the guy almost sounds like Vegeta, you know, being gone and all." Watching her closely this time, he didn't miss her reaction to his statements. But it was the one about Vegeta that made him the most suspicious. At the mention of his name, Bulma swallowed involuntarily and tried her best to look like what he said wasn't affecting her in the least, even though it obviously was.

Pushing himself upwards away from the spot where he was currently lounging, Yamcha quickly stepped towards Bulma, locking her between his body and the table. He really wanted to hear her explanation and for some reason, he wanted to make her feel just a little bit nervous for pulling him along on a wild goose chase about her single status.

"What's the deal babe? You seem a little bit nervous. Puar got your tongue?" He chuckled slightly at the stupid pun he'd just made up.

"Well, if I'm nervous, it's because you're crowding me in! Back off bub! Unless you want to find out how much damage this belly of mine can really do!"

Backing up a small amount, Yamcha openly scoffed at Bulma. He should have known the whole time that the 'mystery man' was right underneath his nose. Narrowing his eyes, he glared at Bulma for trying to make a fool out of him.

"Come on, just admit that the father of the baby is that no good jerk Vegeta! I'm not completely stupid ya know, and I didn't miss the way you looked when I mentioned his name."

"I'm not admitting anything to you Yamcha! What would ever give you the idea that I'd let Prince Creepy touch me to begin with? You're still hung up on the whole idea of me cheating on you with him, aren't you?"

Letting out a huff of exasperation, Yamcha crossed his arms. Why was she being so stubborn? Didn't she realize that the more she tried to deny the baby's parentage, the more likely it seemed that Vegeta actually was the father? Besides, even if he hadn't actually caught them kissing, there was no denying the way they had acted towards one another at that retarded barbecue months ago. Even though they had walked off to have some sort of spat, when they had come back, Vegeta had made sure he sat between Bulma and any and all males in the vicinity. Which had only fueled Yamcha's jealousy at the time. Then there was the fact that Bulma had been sick and for some reason, one that still eluded him, Vegeta had gone up after Bulma. He then hadn't come back down for over an hour, muttering something to Mrs. Briefs about Bulma throwing up and having to take a long rest. Besides which, if she really was having a fling with Vegeta, the thought of which sickened him to no end, it would make sense why she was so adamant about defending the creep and making excuses for him.

"Look, I guess I really never believed that you cheated on me with him. It just…it just made me look better to have you do the same thing. But come on! I might not always be the brightest guy around, but looking back, there's a lot of evidence that points to the two of you, you know, having something going on. Especially at the picnic, with you running off and Vegeta following you. The guy never does anything for anybody, so why he went up after you when you were sick is beyond me. Except to point out the fact that he felt guilty about something."

Letting out a long breath, Bulma closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead with her hand, trying to think of what to say to Yamcha. Now that he'd gotten it in his head that Vegeta was the father, was there really any point denying it? Besides, he was right. If anyone decided to look closely enough, the evidence was all there pointing squarely at her and Vegeta. All anyone would have to would be to ask her mother or Goku for a verification of past events, and there it was. Opening her eyes, she let out a small sigh before finally telling Yamcha the truth.

"Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag. I'd just appreciate if you not tell anyone else about it. It's bad enough as it is, but I've been keeping a low profile and I don't want the press to catch wind. And I really don't want to deal with the Z-Squad until I absolutely have to."

Yamcha took a step back in surprise. That was it? No more vehement arguing? No more denial? It was totally unlike Bulma to concede so quickly. And now that he thought about it, he was more than a little upset with her answer. Denial really could be bliss and the truth had a funny way of bulldozing you over. If Vegeta really was the father, there was no getting back together with Bulma. Ever. He had a feeling that if he tried to get within a ten foot pole of her, he'd be torn from limb to limb, and he rather liked his body.

"You're serious? Vegeta's the dad?" Was all he could think of to say at the moment.

Swallowing slowly, Yamcha tried to let it sink it. How could Bulma have let that jerk touch her body with his filthy, bloodstained hands? And further more, how had Vegeta allowed for Bulma to get pregnant in the first place? He had never come across as a guy who would leave such a loose end as having an illegitimate child, especially with a female of a race he had originally come to eradicate. It was almost too awful to be true.

"Yes it's true! You're the one that's been badgering me about it and so I told you. So why are you acting all weird about it? Make up your mind Yamcha!"

"How…when…why…How could you do that Bulma?"

Blinking slowly, Bulma clasped her hands behind her back, trying to think up a way to explain her bizarre relationship with Vegeta without giving away too many details.

"I don't know Yamcha. Maybe I was lonely. Maybe Vegeta was lonely. How do two people end up together? Maybe we just had a one-night fling, throwing our inhibitions to the wind and this pregnancy was the unintended result. Look, does it really matter how it happened? I can't change it and there is no going back. Vegeta's not a sterling example of a caring, loving, doting, husband-like person. I mean, he's an asshole and that hasn't changed. But he's the one who got me pregnant, and I certainly don't feel the need to explain how such an event occurred in the first place. It's not like you haven't slept with other girls besides me since we broke up, so don't even try to deny it."

She was right. He certainly hadn't been virtuous since their breakup, but Vegeta? Even when he'd accused her of cheating with the jerk, in the back of his head, he'd never really believed such a thing would happen. Vegeta was an arrogant dick and there was obviously no love between the two of them because every time he'd come around before their breakup, the two would be constantly at each other's throats about something. And the thought of Vegeta having sex with Bulma grossed him out to no end. He was probably like some sort of twisted, emotionless robot in bed, so how Bulma could have even allowed for that to have happened was beyond his limited understanding. And for some reason, he had to know exactly how it was that Bulma could fall for somebody like Vegeta.

"That's not the point Bulma! It's not like I really expected you to act like virgin or anything. It's just the fact that you chose Vegeta, of all people, to…to fuck around with! Kami, does he even realize that you're pregnant? Obviously, you chose the wrong guy to father a child with because the jerk isn't even here!"

Bulma sniffled a bit. This fight was starting to move into territory that she still wasn't comfortable with, and the last thing she wanted was for Yamcha to see her in moment of weakness. Allowing herself to cry in front of him about her abandonment was not an option.

Crossing her arms under her breasts, Bulma sniffed again, trying to control her vulnerability before she allowed herself to speak.

"Yamcha, just…just stop. There are things that have happened between Vegeta and me which are private and I'm not going to divulge that sort of information. You can think whatever you want about Vegeta, but please give me enough respect to realize that I made a choice about how things were going to go between him and myself. And yes, he does know that he's going to be a father."

"And that's why he's not here, huh? Because he doesn't want to be responsible for a half-human bastard, right?"

Pursing her lips tightly, Bulma growled slightly, her eyes flashing in outrage. It was one thing to insult her or Vegeta, but quite another to insult her unborn child.

"That is it Yamcha! My baby is not a bastard! Vegeta has fully acknowledged that the baby is his and that's good enough for me! How dare you come in here and then insult my child? They can't help who their father is!"

Moving towards the doorway, she pointed her arm out towards the hallway.

"My patience has run out. This conversation is over with. Please remove yourself from my property before I have the guards come in and haul you out bodily. And don't think I won't, mister!"

However, Yamcha wasn't through with what he wanted to say. Before he made his way out of the doorway, he grabbed a hold of Bulma's shoulders, spinning her around slightly so that she was facing him.

"All I'm trying to say Bulma is that if he were so concerned about you and your baby, he'd be here right now, not flying around god knows where in outer space. Maybe you really need to look at your priorities and just toss Vegeta to the side. He obviously doesn't give a damn about you, so why keep pretending that things will work themselves out? I say that you should just let the bastard rot and move on. He doesn't deserve you."

Squeezing her eyes shut, Bulma sighed in defeat. Opening them slightly and blinking back tears, she watched Yamcha as looked at her with a worried expression on his face.

"You don't understand anything Yamcha. It's not as simple as just finding myself someone else. If it was, don't you think I would have done so already? Just leave before I have a breakdown."

Stepping away, Yamcha sucked on his teeth slightly and then backed out of the doorway. Pausing slightly, he shook his head as he watched Bulma make her way back to where she had been painting when he had first arrived.

"I'm not giving up that easily babe. I'm gonna prove to you that I'm way better than Vegeta." He whispered to himself as he finally made his way back outside into the gloriously sunny day.

_Later that evening…_

Bulma was exhausted. Between having to paint the nursery and then deal with Yamcha's surprise visit, she felt like she was ready to collapse. Shuffling her way towards her bedroom, she tiredly opened the door and made her way in, Muffin close at her heels.

Walking over to her bed, she pulled her pajamas out from behind her pillow and then slowly sat down, rubbing her aching back as she did so. Covering her mouth as she let out a tired yawn with her other free hand, she closed her eyes and slumped backwards slightly. She wished she could take some sort of pain reliever, but because she was pregnant, that was out of the question. Releasing her back, she carefully started to remove her shirt and pants, quietly putting on her pajamas. Even though it was only around 9:00pm, she was more than ready to lie down and fall into a deep sleep. Throwing her paint covered cloths in a pile near the door, she awkwardly pushed herself onto her bed, glad that she hadn't made it earlier and could pull the rumpled blankets over her bulky body. Snuggling up against the body pillow her obstetrician had suggested she buy, she sleepily called for her now clean dog to come up on the bed and lie down next to her. Feeling his warm little body curl up by her feet, Bulma closed her eyes and let her mind drift off into oblivion as sleep finally claimed her.

_& & & _

Hearing something whining into her ear, Bulma tried to shift her head away from the obnoxious noise. Unfortunately, whatever it was that was causing the noise in the first place was extremely persistent. Sticking her arm out, she started patting the bed around her, looking for a pillow to use as a buffer against the annoying sound. It was at that moment that her mind finally registered the sound as not just a noise, but someone's voice.

"Bulma." Pause. "_Bulma!_" Another pause. **_"Woman!"_**

With the last word being screamed directly into her tender eardrums, Bulma tried to cover her ears with her hands, not finding her pillow anywhere.

"Leave me alone. Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?" Bulma muttered as she tried to roll onto her stomach, finding it difficult to adjust herself on the narrow mattress of the bed she was lying on.

"Baka, you are asleep! Just open your God damned eyes so I can get this over with!"

"Vegeta?"

"Of course idiot! Who else has the ability to talk with you in your sleep?"

Hearing an irritated tsk coming from wherever Vegeta was standing, Bulma slowly opened her eyes and tried to push herself up in a sitting position. Feeling herself blush over how clumsy she must look in front of Vegeta, she blew out a deep breath as she leaned back into the bed slightly, her eyes blinking as the adjusted to the harsh light surrounding her.

Looking around slightly, she located Vegeta easily enough as he was practically standing over her with a look of exasperation and horror across his angular face.

"Gods Woman, I leave you for…" Counting on his fingers, he tried to figure out exactly how long it had been. "Three months and…" He, of course, had seen flashes of her body when he had unconsciously connected with her during sleep or meditation, and then once in a great while when he consciously tried to make a weak connection to find out about her well being. But to actually make an effort to finally speak with her through her dreams like he had done when he had been trying to escape the inevitability of mating with her; the shock of seeing her in her current condition was a bit much.

"And what, Prince Jerkwad? I look like my belly's going to burst if someone sticks a needle into it?"

"Whatever Woman! That isn't why I'm contacting you at the moment." But looking at her, he felt that rather annoying sensation of guilt and concern surface again. Pushing it out of the way, he hardened his gaze and watched her as she pushed her legs over the edge of his bed. She was wearing some sort of nightgown that left very little to his imagination of what her body looked like underneath it, and he was starting to appreciate how attractive she had been before he had helped her body to end up looking like some sort of monstrosity. It was one thing to dream about her unconsciously like that and not be bothered, but quite another to see her looking so…fat. No wonder Saiyans had opted for the convenience of incupods. Not only did they allow for Saiyan women to fight out on the battlefield, but they also were able to keep their trim and shapely figures.

"I just have one question Woman before I move onto more important matters. You aren't going to look like that forever, are you?"

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Bulma crossed her arms and glared at him. What a jerk, to ask her such an insensitive question!

"No, I'm not. How could you ask such a question Vegeta? You're an ass!"

"Well, I just wanted to make sure. I'm not sleeping with you if you end up permanently looking like that!" He yelled out, feeling slightly embarrassed for pissing her off. Besides, he had a feeling that if he had stayed on Earth with her, her current state wouldn't have affected his libido in any way. At the moment, the realization that he hadn't slept with her in over three months was currently overriding his apparent disgust for her swollen belly and that thought really disturbed him. Shaking his head slightly, he looked off to the side, waiting for Bulma's forth-coming rebuttal.

"What makes you think that I'm ever going to take you back into my bed? You have a lot of nerve Vegeta! Just because we are tied together eternally through that stupid bond does not mean that I'm going to let you just crawl back in my bed and screw me whenever you feel the urge. There will have to be quite a few changes in how you treat me before I ever allow that to happen again!"

"Oh really?" Stepping closer, he rubbed his knee against her thigh and smirked when he saw a blush start to creep across her cheeks. "Here's what _I_ think Woman. When I come back, no matter what you say about things needing to…change, you'll still want it from me and you won't deny something that gives you so much…._ pleasure_."

"I…oh…" Bulma felt her blush increase, especially when Vegeta placed his hand on her thigh and started to squeeze it gently. She wasn't supposed to be turned on by him, and yet here she was feeling… "Stop it Vegeta. I thought you said you were grossed out by the way I look anyway." Narrowing her eyes at him, she slapped his hand away and frowned when he chuckled at her.

"Well, seeing as the medium's a dream, since it's not happening in the physical world, I could indulge in a little affair with you. Besides, I have all the control in this situation. If you remember back to our little telepathy lessons, once you allow someone into your head, if they're stronger than you are, they can control what goes on. So just remember that and don't piss me off. Otherwise, I can make this a painful ordeal."

"Come off of it. You aren't going to hurt me in this stupid dream conversation, no matter how much you try to act like you will. Because I do remember some things and as I recall, whatever you do to me in this…this dream world thingy will end up being mirrored back at you."

Swallowing slightly, Vegeta tried to hide his discomfort over the fact that she'd beat him at his own bluff by smirking at her with a look of coldness and maliciousness.

"Shall we find out?"

"No! I don't want to be at the mercy of your sadistic mind games Vegeta! So hurry up and tell me what it is you need so badly that you allowed yourself to contact me, when you haven't so much as sent an 'I'm still alive and kicking' message to my family the entire time you've been gone. I mean, god forbid that people might actually be concerned for you considering you can't return the same favor."

"Whatever! Can you stand with that thing in your stomach or do I have to lower myself to actually carrying you?"

"Ugh! That 'thing' is _your_ child, you asshole! And no, I'm more than capable of walking around, thank you very much! Besides, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you, oh supreme majesty, now would I?" Standing up awkwardly, Bulma caught her balance and straightened out, quickly walking towards where Vegeta had retreated. Looking around at her surroundings, she finally put two and two together to realize that she was walking around in Vegeta's Gravity Room.

"Inconvenience me! What a fucking joke! This whole trip as been nothing been one disaster after another! And since you're such a supposed genius, isn't it convenient that everything should just so happen to go wrong after I leave, hmm?" Vegeta muttered out sarcastically as he was bent over the control panel in front of him.

"Huh, what are you talking about? We made sure this thing was in working order when you left. It isn't my fault that you were in such a hurry to leave that things may have gotten overlooked. My dad originally told you that three day time frame in order to avoid anything going wrong while you were by yourself in the first place."

Turning around quickly, Vegeta crossed his arms and snarled at Bulma.

"Oh, so it's my fault, is it? I don't believe you! I think it's all some sort of ploy of yours to make me come back to your stupid hovel! It's nothing more than a power game and I refuse to be a part of it Woman!" Grabbing her by the arm, he pushed her over towards the damaged controls to the gravity simulator.

"Hey, you could at least be a little bit gentle! I'm pregnant with your kid, you know!" Rubbing her arm slightly as Vegeta let go she looked at the damage in front of her.

"Well, what do you want to know? It's damaged and I'm sure you know who the responsible party is!"

Narrowing his eyes at her disrespectful tone, Vegeta growled under his breath before he answered her question.

"Look, it was broken before it was externally damaged." Hurrying on before he would end up admitting to blasting the thing in a fit of temper, he motioned towards the offending piece of equipment with his arm. "I was in the middle of doing a warm up exercise when the damn thing quit working, almost causing me to create a hole in the space ship with my body. The control panel said there was a fatal error and the system would not allow me to override it. I need to know exactly what happened and what I need in order for it to become fixed. I've been without it for over a month and no one in this sector has the ability to fix it."

Rubbing her eyes in exasperation, Bulma carefully pulled open the control panel in the dream. Letting out a low whistle, she surveyed the damage, knowing Vegeta was not going to like her answer one bit. Carefully closing the lid back down and locking it into place, she turned around and leaned against, rubbing the persistent ache in her back that had somehow also invaded her dreams. She watched as Vegeta looked at her suspiciously, obviously not satisfied that she had only spent a few minutes looking at it.

"Aren't you going to run some sort of diagnostic on it? You can't tell me you've figured out the answer already! You barely even looked at it Woman!"

Unconsciously pushing her bangs out of her face, Bulma licked her lips nervously. He really was going to have a fit when she informed him of her prognosis for his gravity simulator.

"Look, my guess is that the system probably had a wire burn out or something. A relatively simple thing to fix which would have been easy to figure out by running a diagnostic. The reason it locked you out of the system without being able to override it was because of a safety feature that I installed to make sure you wouldn't accidentally kill yourself in here. I installed it after you blew up the Gravity Room the first time. Normally, it won't engage if it's just a minor repair. But if something goes wrong that could distort or override the mechanism that keeps the gravity engaged at the amount you preset it at, the system automatically shuts down and only my father or myself have access to fix it. It wouldn't do for you to override the system and then be crushed to death by the gravity going haywire."

Pursing his lips in thought, Vegeta absently tapped his fingers against his thigh as his other hand stroked his chin.

"So what your saying is that the dumb thing quit working because of a faulty wire and that it wouldn't allow for me to override it because of a stupid safety mechanism? If it's that simple to repair, why hasn't anyone been able to do so?"

Letting out a sigh, Bulma moved onto part two of her disclosure: the part that Vegeta was more than likely going to go ballistic over, even though it was his fault in the first place.

"Well, fixing the wire would have been simple enough to repair. But when you smashed the control panel with your fist, you used so much force that you damaged the simulator all the way to the core. Unless the places you stopped at had very specific parts, and by specific, I mean Capsule copyrighted parts, there is no way that it's going to get fixed. Unfortunately Vegeta, if you want your Gravity Simulator to work, you're going to have to come back to Earth and I'm going to have to either do a complete overhaul on the device or I'm going to have to put in a new one. End of story."

"_What!_ That's bullshit and I refuse to believe you Woman! I'm not coming back to Earth for some stupid repair! You're just saying that so you can try to control me again!"

Walking over to Vegeta, Bulma slapped him across his arrogant face. She didn't care if he had control of the stupid dream or not. She wasn't going to listen to him accuse her of things that just weren't true, like some spoiled brat.

"I'm not trying to control you, you dick! I'm simply stating the truth! One of these days, your arrogance and your temper is going to get the better of you Vegeta, and I'm going to be glad to see it happen when it does! Then maybe you'll finally learn the value of letting others into your life."

Feeling his cheek smarting, Vegeta pushed himself away from Bulma. How dare she? He was finally starting to feel in control of himself and then she had to act like some self-righteous goddess. It didn't help matters either that by bringing her here in this dream, he'd all but admitted that he'd needed her help, even if he wouldn't make the trip back to Earth until he'd reached Super Saiyan.

"Say what you want! I'm still not coming back until I can prove to the world that another Super Saiyan does exist!"

"Well, then you'll just have to figure out how to become a Super Saiyan without the use of the gravity simulator. Because unless you come back to Earth, it's not going to get fixed."

With that said, both Bulma and Vegeta let out identical sighs, their eyes widening at the implication of such an action. Letting the tension seep out of their bodies, a strained awkwardness seemed to fill the space between them.

Still leaning against the simulator's control panel, Bulma watched as Vegeta gracefully lowered himself to the floor and crossed his legs, closing his eyes in the process. Pulling her long hair back behind her neck, she felt guilty for slapping Vegeta across the face, amazed he hadn't retaliated back at her. Maybe he was changing towards her, but seeing him after all these months, even with the glimpses she would catch of him through their bond, made her realize how much she really missed the jerk. It was too bad that he didn't seem to miss her in return. Her love life really was a screwed up mess.

"Uh, what are you doing Vegeta?"

"Meditating."

"Oh. Well, you can put me back in my own head anytime you want to Vegeta. I'm sure you want to get back to whatever it is you do in here by yourself."

"I'll put you back when I feel good and ready to do so Woman. Now shut up and find something useful to do."

Rubbing again at the persistent pain in her lower back, she made her way over to the lumpy bed that Vegeta slept in. She snickered slightly; realizing it was because of her that he'd gotten such an uncomfortable bed to begin with. Maybe he'd been partially right about her trying to sabotage his attempt to leave. But it had mostly been small things like the bed and the sanitary system. In the back of her mind, she had known he wouldn't be returning because of some minor inconveniences. However, the thought of causing him some small amount of vexation had been what had egged her on to do something so childish to begin with.

Sitting down, she let out a gasp as she sank down into the broken down mattress, almost hitting her head against the wall. Looking over at where Vegeta was seated, she saw that he had his eyes open and he was watching her with an unreadable expression across his face. Trying to adjust herself, she squeaked as she fell awkwardly to her side. Closing her eyes in embarrassment, knowing that Vegeta was probably enjoying the show, she was surprised when she felt his warm, gloved hand grab onto her arm, pulling her upright.

"Having some difficulty?"

"Um, just a little bit." Trying to brush his arm away, but failing miserably, Bulma tried to redeem herself somewhat. "I would've been able to right myself Vegeta. I was almost there!"

"Huh, you looked like a beached whale!"

"Ha ha, very funny! You can leave and go back to your meditation or whatever the hell you were doing." Looking away slightly, she was somewhat surprised by Vegeta's next move because it wasn't one she had expected at all.

"Do you really hate me Woman?"

Blinking quickly, she looked up at Vegeta, whose face was turned to the side.

"I…why would you think that? I really don't like you most of the time because you're a complete shithead sometimes, but I've never hated you. The most I feel for you is strong dislike, and god forbid, there have actually been times that I've even felt inclined to like you. Why? Can't you tell from our bond what I really feel for you?"

"I…" Letting out a grunt, Vegeta turned away. "Forget I even asked such a weak question. It's no concern of mine whether you hate me or not."

"Well, if it's no concern of yours, why do you ask? Honestly, I _should_ hate you. For getting me pregnant and leaving me, not letting me know that you're okay, letting me worry about you when you've never shown me the same courtesy. But I can't. And you want to know why? Because for some reason, even though you confuse me, I can understand on some level where you're coming from and that maybe you need some space. But that doesn't mean I'm not upset or angry with you. Just so you know, when you do come back, I'm not going to act like some sentimental crybaby. You're going to have work to get me to accept you one hundred percent back into my life."

Letting out a short breath, Vegeta turned his head to face Bulma again. He wasn't entirely sure what to do, and he hated being unsure of himself, especially in front of her. He was glad she wasn't going to act like some sissy, overly emotional baby when he showed up after finally achieving Super Saiyan. But he didn't want to be in her life one hundred percent either. Deciding the best thing to do would be to ignore his uncertainty, he removed his hand from her arm, and then caught himself touching her cheek. Even though it was only a dream, it still seemed real and it had been a long time since he'd had physical contact with her. Something he did miss. Forgetting about his earlier declaration to never sleep with her in her current state, he angled her face up towards his own and leaned down to kiss her in a very primitive and primal way, wanting to feel her own lips in submission underneath his own. It felt good to have her running her hands along his back, to feel her body yield against his own, even with the awkwardness of having her huge stomach coming between them. He was about to try to push her nightgown out of the way, when Bulma's appreciative moaning turned into a scream of excruciating pain.

"Oh God, Vegeta, get off of me!"

Backing away uncertainly, he saw her face as tears leaked out of her eyes and down her face while her right hand shakily trailed down her right side.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Woman?" He yelled out, sounding harsher than he intended to.

"How the hell should I know? I think I'm dying!" And with that, she vanished out of his mind, no doubt waking up inside her bed at Capsule Corporation to whatever it was that had caused such a reaction in the first place.

Forcing himself awake, Vegeta sat up in bed wondering what was wrong with Bulma. Now that he was fully awake, he could actually feel residual pain along his own right side and back. Even though it was weak, the fact that he was light years away and could feel anything at all pointed to the immense amount of pain Bulma was experiencing. Feeling worry rise up into his gullet, he swallowed slowly. He didn't have time to worry about her. She would be fine and that was what he would focus on. To let anything else get past would be to admit even more weakness on his part, and he would not allow it. Not at all.

_What's wrong with Bulma? Is she dying? Is Trunks finally going to make his appearance prematurely? And what will Vegeta do? He's been building up his walls against Bulma, but could this motivate him to finally come back home, especially since he know that his GR won't get fixed unless he makes a stop on Earth? To find, out stayed tuned for the next chapter! And please R&R!_


	28. Chapter 28

_Okay, I'm sorry for the long delay. I have had major writer's block, and my enthusiasm for this story has started to wane. I feel like I'm stuck in a rut writing it and I hope I'm not disappointing anyone. If anyone has any advice for writer's block, feel free to give me some. Do you ever get to a point where things suddenly seem clear? I hope so! Anyway, enough with my random babbling. Thanks so much for the many reviews! I can't believe it and it makes me so happy, while at the same time, it stresses me out because I want you to keep enjoying my story and I hope I'm meeting expectations. So special thanks to Bulma and Vegeta fan, Pearl3, The Angel that Fell, HannibalFrost, Chazie, Essence-chan, Maatlockk, MissKira, Nish095081, Saiya-jin Queen, SilverWing145, Llamachick, Cappuccino Penguin, SuperMaz, Fool-4-Fantasy, and Stella. I love hearing from you!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of its characters._

_Chapter 28_

Bulma woke up in her bed abruptly; scrunching her eyes together as pain radiated from her lower back down her right leg. Letting out a whimper, she tried to position herself upright, hissing as the pressure on her back and leg also increased. Slowly and awkwardly sitting up, she put a shaking hand to her lower back, massaging it gently, which seemed to help.

"Goddamn Vegeta! This is all is fucking fault, trying to kiss me in my dream!"

Well, she didn't know if that was true or not. For Kami's sake, how could a stupid kiss, in a dream no less, cause her this kind of pain? However, it felt good to use him as vent for her anger and since he wasn't present, it made him that much more tempting as a target for her pain induced rage.

Pushing her legs over the side of the bed, she forced herself to stand up, dislodging Muffin from where he was currently lounging near her feet. It was pure agony trying to stand and walk, making Bulma suddenly afraid that something had gone dreadfully wrong with her pregnancy. She wasn't supposed to be due for another two months. What if she was in labor? She wasn't ready to be a mother yet! Taking a few steps, Bulma cried out as another shooting pain went up her right side. Deciding she wasn't going to be able to walk anywhere, she slowly sat back down on her bed, reaching for the phone on her bedside table.

Shakily dialing the extension to her parents' bedroom, she waited as the phone rang a few times before somebody finally picked it up. Letting out a silent prayer to Kami that somebody had been in the bedroom, she listened as her mother answered.

"Hello?"

"M...Mom. It's Bulma. Can you come to my room? It's an emergency."

There was a pause on the other line before Mrs. Briefs' high-pitched voice sounded into Bulma's ear.

"Sure hon, I'll be over as fast as you can say flapjack!" With that, the line went dead and Bulma dropped the receiver down, listening as it clunked awkwardly onto the top of her nightstand, not settling nicely into its cradle.

Sitting back down, Bulma wanted to cry. The pain in her leg and lower back seemed to have lightened up a small amount, but she was worried and she was also upset with Vegeta. The stupid jerk was more concerned about his retarded spaceship and becoming a Super Saiyan then he was about her well being. She hadn't had one connected thought with him since she woke up from that strange dream conversation and she had a feeling he was purposely going to ignore her, just to show her how much he didn't give a damn about her or their unborn child. And the thing that made her even more angry was the fact that just before she had woken up, he had been kissing her. He was so confusing. Hot one moment and then cold the next, like he couldn't make up his mind about her or their relationship.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Bulma rubbed her thigh slightly through the thin material of her nightgown with her hand. Muffin, who had been dislodged from his sleeping spot by her sudden need to get out of the bed, had crawled back on top and was buried partially under her bunched up blankets and sheets. Looking over at her dog, Bulma felt a stab of jealousy that he should be so comfortable while she was enduring a plethora of shooting pains.

"It's just not fair! Why does this day have to suck so much? First there's my mom's nagging about painting the nursery. Then dumb Yamcha trying to worm his way back into my affections. Finally, to top it all off, Vegeta decides to let me know he's okay just so he can try to get me to fix the dumb GR so he doesn't have to make a return trip back. And now this!"

Staring up at the ceiling, Bulma felt a few tears begin a downward descent against the skin of her cheeks. Clasping her hands tightly in her lap, she decided that perhaps now would be a good time to implore for Kami-sama's help. So far, he really hadn't listened to any of her prayers or helped her overly much at that. But she was really scared that something was either seriously wrong with her or her child and she just couldn't bear the thought of losing the baby that she had had within her for the last seven months, even if its creation had caused her nothing but problems and heartache. She wanted this baby, if only so that she would have a part of Vegeta in case he got killed by the Android onslaught or he left her forever. She knew that was a pathetic and depressing reason for wanting a baby. However, since she'd given herself to him by becoming his mate, she pretty much knew that she was destined live alone should he so choose to leave her after the fight with the Androids as he said he would. She had no way of knowing that currently, Vegeta was questioning the very decisions that he had made about her and their future life together. Besides, the way he was acting towards her wasn't reassuring her of his affection, that was for sure.

"Kami, I'm not asking for much. But please, could you let me and my baby be okay? I promise I'll never bother you again if you just grant me this one request. Please, I'm begging you!" Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, Bulma strained her ears for some sort of sign from the divine. Listening to her breathing and ignoring the sharp pains in her back and leg, Bulma waited, only to be interrupted by the sound of her door being whooshed open.

"Bulma, baby! Oh honey, please tell me you're okay!"

Snapping her eyes open, Bulma crossed her arms and glared at her mother.

"Oh yeah Mom. I'm one hundred percent fine. That's why I called you to tell you to get your _ass over here because of an EMERGENCY!_" Honestly, why did she have to have such a stupid parent? Rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand, she let out an irritated sigh as her mother cautiously walked up to her.

Sitting down next to Bulma on the bed, Mrs. Briefs took a good look at her daughter and could tell she was in a great deal of pain the way she was favoring her left side. Besides, it took a lot for Bulma to admit to needing any sort of help when it came to rather personal issues, a personality quirk that she also shared with Vegeta. Taking Bulma's hand in her own, she rubbed it gently, trying to sooth her ruffled daughter before she started her inquiry.

"Did your water break? Are you feeling deep pressure…um…you know where?"

"What, are you asking me if I'm having contractions like those stupid videos we had to watch in Lamaze class showed us?" Bulma wasn't actually sure. Yeah, she'd watched those dumb movies and they really hadn't reassured her about giving birth. But since she

knew she was going to request drugs through an epidural, she hadn't really paid too much attention to the details. Closing her eyes, she tried to concentrate on what her body was telling her, just like the Lamaze instructor had told her to do. In a manner of seconds, Bulma came up with her answer, but it didn't make her feel any more assured. If anything, it made her worry even more.

"No Mom, I don't think I'm having contractions. I just feel this awful pain radiating from my back down my right side. And it isn't like a continuous pain. They're sharp and shooting and when I stand up and try to move, it feels even worse. What if I'm dying?" She wailed out suddenly, leaning into her hands.

Rubbing Bulma's shoulders gently, Mrs. Briefs tried to take away some of her daughter's trepidation. But she herself was worried. She had no experience with problems during a pregnancy, seeing as hers with Bulma had been a textbook case. However, everything about Bulma's experience was unique simply because the child she carried was half alien. For all she knew, this was something Saiyan women went through. The only course of action would be to take her to the emergency room and have a doctor examine her. That was, if it would be possible for her to move Bulma from the upstairs into a capsule car and then to the hospital emergency room. Calling an ambulance would have to be a last resort simply because it would draw too much attention to Bulma, something she was still trying to avoid.

"There, there sweetie. It's going to be all right, you'll see. Now, do you think if you lean on me for support, you can make it downstairs and into a vehicle? It's a good thing I hadn't changed into my sleepwear before you called, so I'm all ready to go!"

Bulma swallowed and shook her head in the affirmative. She had a feeling that it was going to hurt like hell, but she couldn't stay stuck sitting on her bed for the rest of her life either. Besides, if this was hurting her, she had a feeling that Vegeta was going to be sharing her little pain even though he was currently light years away, and that made it seem a little bit better. Sometimes, not having success at consciously controlling her thoughts or feelings had its advantages, especially when she was pissed at the so-called Prince of all Saiyans.

Standing up slowly with the support of her mother, Bulma bit back a cry of pain and tried to will herself from crying, but it was extremely difficult. The pains were shooting up her leg and back with a vengeance and she had no idea how she was going to make it downstairs, not to mention to the hospital. However, she didn't have any choice, and the last thing she wanted was to appear weak, another side affect of her mental bond with Vegeta. Gripping tightly to her mom's supportive arm, she moved slowly along, letting images of Vegeta being pounded into a bloody pulp for doing this to her flit past her inner eye as a distraction from the intense pain she was feeling.

In what seemed to take an eternity, Bulma found herself being helped into an air car her mother had just unencapsulated. Sitting down awkwardly, letting out a cry of pain as she lifted her leg slowly into the car, she let her mother fuss over her, making sure her seatbelt was in place and everything was set before she got in the other side and started the vehicle. In no time at all, they were on the way to the one place Bulma was not looking forward to going to: the hospital. Just the thought of being poked and prodded by nosy, perverted doctors was enough to make her scream in frustration. This just was not her day.

Glancing over at her mother, who was surprisingly a fairly good driver, Bulma let out a long sigh, trying to unsuccessfully will her pain away.

"Mom, when this whole pregnancy thing is over with and Vegeta finally comes back, don't interfere when I tear him limb for limb, 'kay?"

"All right pumpkin. Whatever you say."

With that, the car headed into the darkness, speeding above the highway at a rapid pace as it made its way to West City Memorial Hospital.

_About an hour later…_

Bulma sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair, blushing over her appearance in the stupid hospital gown she was currently sporting, which barely covered her entire body due to her swollen stomach. Thankfully, the night her body chose to react unfavorably to her was the night that the emergency room was slow. This meant that she had been seen to immediately and it also helped that she was the richest woman in the world. Sometimes, being famous really did have its perks.

Now, however, she was impatiently playing the waiting game as she sat on the junky neon orange chair dreading the news when the emergency room doctor and her obstetrician finished their little tete a tete.

"Ugh, what is taking so long? It's my life we're talking about here! I'm a lot more important then some stupid gossip session between two dumb ass doctors!"

Twisting her hospital gown in her hands angrily, pretending she was strangling the two doctors who were taking their time at the expense of her discomfort, Bulma tried to relax. She just hated all the loops and hoops that patients had to go through when visiting the doctor and she definitely wasn't the most patient of people, especially when she didn't feel well or was in pain.

She didn't know how long she sat there fisting her clothing in agitation before she felt her mother take one of her hands and start to massage it.

"Just relax honey. I know this is difficult for you, but they have to figure out what's wrong with you before they can tell you an answer. Besides, just think how lucky you are that your obstetrician was on call and came in so quickly. Don't you feel a little better knowing that Dr. Hushimata's here? And look on the bright side. At least they haven't rushed you anywhere, so that has to be a good sign even though I know you're in a lot of pain. Plus, both doctors are just such cute hunks!"

Bulma just rolled her eyes and grunted sourly in reply. She did feel a little relieved that her personal physician had come in so she didn't have to deal with a complete stranger who didn't know her medical history or that of her pregnancy, but she...hated…_waiting_! And deep down inside, she really wished Vegeta were here with her instead of her mother, even though she wanted to rip his balls off at the moment as well. Being conflicted about her lover certainly had its disadvantages.

She was about to start in on another rant about something insignificant as a way to blow off steam when the door to the room they were waiting in opened, admitting two middle aged doctors who were finally making their appearance.

"Well Bulma, sorry to keep you waiting, but as a scientist, you know that a proper diagnosis takes time."

"Fine, whatever. Just tell me what's wrong." Bulma retorted sharply, trying to hide her nervousness with her poisonous tongue. Tightening her lips warily, Bulma watched as Dr. Hushimata took the developed x-rays they had taken of her over to the light up board to show her something while the other doctor whose name she hadn't bothered to remember jumped casually up onto the examination table.

"Alright Bulma. Well, it's really very simple and your condition isn't all that rare, which is definitely a positive considering how unusual your pregnancy has progressed thus far."

At that comment, Bulma narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Her pregnancy wasn't normal? If that was the case, why hadn't she heard anything about it thus far? Had he somehow figured out that her baby wasn't entirely human and was in on some sort of conspiracy with the government? Crossing her arms angrily, she shot her doctor a dirty look reserved for the worst sort of scum imaginable. She wasn't in the mood for games at the moment and her frame of mind, which was already bad to begin with, was starting to rapidly deteriorate.

"And what exactly do you mean by that? How is it not normal?"

"Well, ah…" Dr. Hushimata scratched his head nervously. "What I mean…um…" he trailed off, looking slightly ill at ease. Bulma crossed her arms and smirked at his obvious discomfort over her forthright manner.

"Well, you're the one who brought it up so just spill it already."

"Um, yes. Well, your child is a bit larger then normal babies at this stage of development besides the fact that it's your first pregnancy. Most first pregnancy babies tend to be smaller. And then there's the fact that while your blood work and hormones seem to be normal, if a bit elevated, the amniotic tests we performed on your baby, while not showing anything extremely abnormal, there have been some oddities in the final work-up. I'm sure it has just been errors and everything else seems to be fine, so…let's just move on to what brought you in tonight."

Bulma relaxed somewhat, rubbing her throbbing leg. She supposed her pregnancy _was_ somewhat unusual and since they didn't know the father of the baby she carried was a super strong alien, any peculiarities with her baby and her pregnancy would seem strange. At least he hadn't made an issue out of it, which was something she appreciated. She could just imagine all the bullshit she would have to put up with had he decided to take her to task about the unusual nature of her unborn child. But then again, she wouldn't have kept him as her doctor had that been the case. Being pregnant was such a pain in the ass.

"Fine, whenever you're ready doctor. Just make it quick and give me the cure so I can get the hell out of this place."

Smiling slightly, Dr. Hushimata shook his head in agreement and pointed to the x-ray.

"Well, this isn't really a very good way to explain this, but see here?" He pointed to a spot on the x-ray near lower lumbar vertebrae. "You have an inflammation of one of your disks which is putting pressure on your sciatic nerve. You've probably been feeling lower back pain for a while now, and it doesn't help that your baby is also putting stress on your back. My guess is that you've been doing more strenuous activities then you should be doing at this time of your pregnancy and the total finally tallied up. Now your sciatic nerve is feeling this pressure and it has also become inflamed. In short, you have a condition that is somewhat common during pregnancy, especially the later stages. Simply put, you have sciatica."

Bulma pursed her lips and then looked over at the other doctor, who shook his head in confirmation.

"So, what exactly does that mean? There is a cure, right?"

Both doctors looked at each other uneasily and then turned back to her.

Moving around to wear Bulma was sitting; Dr. Hushimata pulled up a stool and sat on it in front of his patient.

"Well, there are quite a few treatments for sciatica, some that work very well. But in your case, it's somewhat limited."

"What do you mean by 'limited' exactly?" Bulma asked angrily. She wanted some goddamn answers and she wanted them now, not in the next century.

Tapping his fingers nervously on his thigh, knowing how temperamental Bulma could be, Dr. Hushimata tried to come up with a way to phrase what he was thinking in such a way that wouldn't cause a mini-explosion from his patient in the examining room. However, this time he was spared by his emergency room counterpart, Dr. Kisame.

Wiggling his legs back and forth from where he was sitting on the examination table, Dr. Kisame intervened in the knick of time.

"It's like this Bulma. There really is no cure for sciatica since it's a problem with an inflammation or irritation of the sciatic nerve. Treatments that can be successful include massage therapy, physical therapy, taking anti-inflammatory medications, pain medications, steroids and alternative medicine like seeing a chiropractor. Since you are pregnant and this is most likely a side affect of that, as you can see, many of these treatments aren't going to work. Dr. Hushimata?"

"Thanks Dr. Kisame." Turning back to Bulma, he decided to give her some possible options and then his orders, which he knew that she wasn't going to like.

"You can't take any medication because your pregnant, so drug therapy and steroid use are not options. I think the best solution for you is to see a massage therapist. Most likely, this will either go away on its own if you take it easy or it will go away after your baby is born. Besides massage therapy, you should invest in a good body pillow to help support your back during sleep and I want you to be on bed rest."

Bulma felt her jaw drop. Bed rest? What the hell? There was no way that that could be the only cure for the pain she was suffering through! It wasn't fair at all. It had to be a mistake.

"I don't believe you. You're just trying to boss me around like the male chauvinist pig that you are." Trying to stand up quickly, Bulma regretted it as soon as a sharp pain shot up her right side. Sitting back down, she let out a short whimper.

"Look Bulma, we aren't your enemies here. Just think of it like this. I know you're in a lot of pain, but at least it's not threatening your life or the life of the baby. Hopefully, your baby will shift positions and then the pressure on your back will let up. When that happens, you'll feel much better and I can let up on the restrictions a bit. But unless you want to hurt yourself even more, I suggest you take what I tell you seriously."

Pulling on her hair nervously, Bulma first looked at her mother and then back over to her doctor.

"But I don't want to have to lie in bed all day. That's boring." She knew that she sounded like a spoiled little kid, but she was beyond caring at this point.

Letting out a sigh, Dr. Hushimata spoke up.

"You don't have to lie in bed all day. I just want you to be resting, which means no talking long walks, bending, twisting, running, jumping, anything. No painting in the baby's nursery either, like you said you were doing earlier today. I don't want you putting any more stress on your back then you already have. Do I make myself clear?"

Slumping her shoulder, Bulma let out a sigh of defeat. She wasn't going to win this one no matter how hard she tried and besides, being in constant pain wasn't a very big motivator to keep asking for another possible diagnosis of her condition. For all that she disliked doctors, she trusted Dr. Hushimata and he hadn't lead her astray so far. The fact was, knowing that he knew what her temperament was like, if he was laying out the facts, then what he said had to be true and she'd just have to suffer through it. But when Vegeta came back, she was going to make sure he knew exactly the amount of suffering she had had to put up with in his absence and she was going make his life a living incarnation of hell. Smirking maliciously, ignoring the nervous looks of both doctors and her mother, Bulma motioned Dr. Hushimata to continue on with his orders. The sooner she found out everything, the sooner she could leave this miserable and most loathed place.

_A few days later…_

Bulma let out a tired sigh as she shifted slightly against the mound of pillows that were supporting her back as she lay across the couch. Lifting her hand slightly, pointing the remote control at the TV facing her from across the room, she flipped through a few more channels before deciding to give up. It was mid-afternoon and nothing was on. Dropping her hand and the remote into her lap, she lay back and closed her eyes. Even though it had only been a few days since her visit to the emergency room, the tediousness of her days spent lying around the house were starting to affect her mind. In short, she was bored senseless, and because it was so painful and awkward to move around, she'd relegated herself to spending the rest of her pregnancy in the downstairs family room, which had been rearranged to accommodate her and her condition. It was too difficult for her to move up and down the stairs, not to mention move anywhere without feeling the pain of her inflamed and stressed sciatic nerve. At least when she lay still with her leg propped up, the discomfort was eased a bit, only coming across as numbness and pins and needles. Still, she hated the feeling of total uselessness that had seemed to settle upon her as soon as she had started following her doctor's orders. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

Leaning against the pillows, she tried to think of things that she could do to ease her lack of motivation. She was about to call for her mother to go down to the lab and bring up her laptop so she could at least get some work done when the family room door opened. Sitting up slightly, she craned her head towards the sound, feeling a sudden thumping of her heart. No matter that she knew it was impossible, she hoped that maybe Vegeta had returned against all odds. But instead of Vegeta, it was none other then…Yamcha.

"Oh fuck, could my life get any worse?" Glaring at Yamcha, she flopped back down into her pillows, crossing her arms and closing her eyes in attempt to ignore him.

"Hey Bulma! Boy, you look like crap, but I brought something that might cheer you up."

Well, the one thing she could say about Yamcha, whether it was positive or negative, was that he was certainly acting persistent. Ever since the day he had found out about her pregnancy and then somehow figured out about her physical state, he'd found someway to sneak into her house in order to bother her. However, it still hadn't sunk into his head that not only were his chances to win her back as possible as hell freezing over, but that she didn't want to be bothered by him. She ignored him, made fun of him, and had even posted guards around the property. Yet still he somehow managed to infiltrate into her home and she had a sneaking suspicion her mother was part of it, not wanting her daughter to suffer her misery in peace.

Letting out a frustrated grunt, Bulma decided that ignoring the idiot wasn't going to make him go away, especially since he had spent all afternoon with her yesterday even though she had refused to speak to him.

"Fine, give me whatever it is you brought and then leave. I'm not in the mood to play gracious houseguest to you."

"Come on Bulma! What's it going to take for you to forgive me? Begging?" Yamcha asked somewhat desperately and angrily.

Pursing her lips slightly, Bulma moved her head so she was looking at her ex-boyfriend.

"I already told you what you would have to do and buying me stupid presents and visiting me when I don't want to see you isn't going to bring you back into my good graces. Besides, you aren't going to ever get me back, so why waste your time? I know you could be out with a handful of pretty girls that would give you a good time instead of hanging out with a bitchy pregnant lady who can't even move without being in agony. Just give up the pretense that you want me because I know the only reason you've been crawling back here is because you like my money."

With that, Bulma turned her head so that it faced the back of the couch, feeling somewhat guilty for being so harsh with her friend. In all honesty though, she was in too much discomfort to really give a shit at the moment and he was annoying her as much as her boredom was.

"Babe, that is bullshit and you know it. I mean, your money is nice and all, but that isn't the reason I'm here!"

"Then what is the reason besides driving my insane? To rub it in my face that I'm pregnant and alone?"

Yamcha stared at Bulma and rubbed his hands together angrily. She just wouldn't let up about the past and she was being so difficult, it wasn't any wonder in his mind why Vegeta had left in the first place. Regardless if he liked the arrogant Prince or not, putting up with Bulma's nasty mouth and evil temper would have been enough to drive any self-respecting man away. Which lead him back to his thinking of why he was even bothering in the first place. Yeah, he thought he could prove to Bulma how much she was missing out by not having him as a boyfriend and that he was so much better then the asshole who had knocked her up and casually left her, but she wasn't giving him so much as a by your leave.

It could also be said that had Yamcha really understood the true dynamic between Bulma and Vegeta, he probably wouldn't have been making such an enormous effort to woo back his reluctant, pregnant ex for reasons he didn't even understand. Except that it was his ego's way of trying to bolster itself after being humiliated by both Vegeta and Bulma after she had dumped him.

Deciding it wasn't worth the effort to be civil with her, Yamcha stepped closer to Bulma

"Forget it. I'm not going to waste my time explaining stuff to you. If you want to wallow around in self-inflicted misery over your pathetic state and the fact that your lover had enough sense to leave you when he did, be my guest. You seriously need to take a chill pill. Maybe I'll come back when you can stop being such an overgrown baby."

Not even waiting for a response, Yamcha turned on his heel and quickly left, slamming the door behind him. Stopping outside of it, he let out a deep and ragged breath, his anger warring with his guilt for saying such nasty things to Bulma. She really needed a friend, but he wasn't going to put up with her abuse for the rest of the day just because she was both internally and externally miserable. Sometimes, there was no dealing with her period. Straightening out his shoulders, he headed for the door as he tried to calm his mind and come up with the reasons he was trying to drag himself back into Bulma's good graces.

Meanwhile, Bulma just stared at the door. She was in a state of shock. She and Yamcha had fought constantly when they had been dating, especially towards the end, but it had always been her who had the last word. She had never seen him so angry and worked up before, making her re-evaluate some of the nasty comments she had said and her poor behavior towards him.

'Maybe he is right. Maybe I am acting like an overgrown baby. Ugh, I hate this!' she screamed inwardly, as she lay back down with a huff.

Absently picking lint off the side of the sofa, she stared up at the ceiling, thinking again about Vegeta. The dream they had shared had been so real that when she fell asleep, she hoped he would try to contact her again, at least so he could find out how she was doing. Unfortunately, Vegeta was turning more and more into an ass as the months progressed. Bulma knew he needed his time alone to adjust and to finally reach his goals, but it didn't make it any easier for her to be left alone, no matter how many times she told herself to be strong. And even though her anger and resentment towards him had grown to the point where it was simmering inside of her mind, waiting for an opportunity to escape and vent its full wrath at him, the long separation was really starting to eat away at her. It was the hardest thing she'd ever suffered through in her entire life and when it was finally over with, if it was ever over with, she would never lament about the small failings in her life ever again. It just wasn't worth it.

Letting out a deep breath, Bulma was about to try surfing the television again when she heard a knock on her door. Thinking it was perhaps Yamcha crawling back, Bulma decided to be a little bit nicer to him, still feeling uneasy about how churlish she had behaved just a few minutes previously.

"Come in. I'm not going anywhere."

Turning towards the door as she heard it open, she was about to apologize to Yamcha when the words died on her lips.

"Hey Bulma!"

"G…Goku! What are you doing here? Don't you have training to pursue?" Bulma asked, surprised to see him.

Scratching the back of his head, Goku looked slightly embarrassed. Narrowing her eyes at him, Bulma had a slight suspicion about the true reason behind his mysterious visit, since she hadn't seen him since the day Vegeta left her.

"Let me guess. You heard from a little bird whose name just so happens to be Yamcha that I'm laid up _and_ I'm a first rate bitch, right?"

"Well, uh, I guess you could say that. But mostly, I just came to see how things were with you. I haven't seen you in a while." Pulling up a chair next to were Bulma was lying, the tall warrior sat down and rested his elbows on his knees, looking intently at her.

Smiling slightly, Bulma nodded her head.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. Not since Vegeta jumped ship anyway. But hey, you disappeared for a whole year after our adventures on Namek, and before that, I hadn't seen you in who knows how long, so what's the deal for coming after only three months? Besides Yamcha, that is."

Smiling sheepishly, Goku shrugged his shoulder absently.

"Do I really have to have a reason? You're one of my oldest friends and I know I'm bad at keeping in touch. But yeah, I guess I have one or two reasons, besides Yamcha."

Closing his eyes for a few minutes, Goku tried to collect his thoughts before he continued talking to his friend, who really wasn't fairing well at all. He felt an overwhelming sadness seeing her like she was and he also felt anger and sorrow towards Vegeta as well. Sorrow because the man was so confused and anger because he'd run away from both his problems and his responsibility. But who was he to talk about responsibility, leaving Chi-Chi and Gohan so he could train on planet Yardrat for a year, worrying his friends and family after Namek exploded by not letting them know he was alive? He really didn't have the right to feel angry with his rival, but he did. Part of it was because even though he hadn't come to visit since the day Vegeta had taken off, he knew that Bulma had been having a hard time with the forced separation and the impending birth of her fist child. After all, he did have his sources, even though it wasn't in his nature to pry into the private affairs of others. However, Bulma was like a sister to him, and since he already had known through Trunks that rough times where ahead for her, he wanted to make sure she was okay. That's what really mattered to him, more then anything else.

Taking Bulma's hand in his own, he watched as she tried to sit up. Her appearance and changed quite a bit since he had last seen her. She looked similar to the way he remembered Chi-Chi being when she had been pregnant with Gohan. It was still strange to think of both Bulma and Vegeta becoming parents together, but there was no denying anymore that Trunks had been telling the truth that day when he had come from the past. Not that Goku hadn't believed him, but still, the thought of Vegeta getting together with anyone and fathering a child had been somewhat of a stretch. He wasn't one to argue against fate, so he'd left it alone for the most part, except for the few times he'd intervened.

"Look Bulma, I'm really sorry about how things went when I tried to help you out with Vegeta. And I'm sorry for avoiding you, but I feel like it's kind of my fault. I spoke from my heart, but you know Vegeta and some of the things I said to him pushed him over the edge."

Chuckling slightly, Bulma gave Goku a lopsided grin.

"Hey Goku, don't worry about it. I asked you to help and, well, it backfired on me. I just thought since you were a Saiyan, you could help him where I couldn't. But I keep forgetting that even though you and Vegeta are both the same race, you have totally different personalities and life experiences. And Vegeta isn't a very forgiving person. Besides, he would have probably left anyway since his training hadn't been going well for months. I'm over it."

Frowning slightly at Bulma, Goku squeezed her hand before letting it drop next to her on the couch.

"Are you really over it, Bulma? I mean, just look at how you were with Yamcha whenever he broke it off with you. How can you say you're over Vegeta when it's pretty clear that there's something more between the two of you then there ever was with Yamcha?" Resting his head on his hand, he waited for Bulma's answer.

"Okay, maybe I'm not over it. I just don't like thinking about it, but being stuck in this room with nothing to do hasn't made it easy. And then there's the fact that I can sense Vegeta."

"What, you can? Well, that's a good sign, isn't it?"

Rolling her eyes, Bulma just shook her head. Figuring he must know what she was talking about, she was a little surprised with how he seemed intrigued by the concept.

"I guess, but I can always sense Vegeta. Can't you sense Chi-Chi?"

"Well, not really. Besides, sometimes, I don't want to. She's pretty scary."

"Oh. Well, I thought you and Chi-Chi were married. Maybe you forgot all that Saiyan instinctual stuff that doesn't entail fighting when you hit your head as a baby. Or, maybe she's not your destined life-mate." Still, Bulma was fairly certain that wasn't the case. She couldn't picture Goku or Chi-Chi with anyone else but themselves. Goku was too naïve for most women and Chi-Chi was…well, she was incredibly frightening, even scaring her own husband.

Scratching his head in confusion, he remembered Vegeta saying something about mates when he had rescued him from the mountains and how it had seemed sort of like déjà vu to him about his own experience with Chi-Chi, but he wasn't sure what to make of Bulma's comments.

"Uh, Bulma, what does me and Chi-Chi have to do with you sensing Vegeta?"

"Nothing much except that you're a Saiyan. Vegeta can read my thoughts and he checks up on my periodically, when I'm sleeping. But just because I can sense him out in space, it doesn't really mean anything. I don't know when he's coming back or if he's okay. But that's beside the point. Sensing him from afar just makes me miss him."

"Ah, well, he'll be back to fight those Androids that kid from the future warned us about. If I know Vegeta, he's itching for a good fight to show me up. You'll see him before long, so don't worry too much about that."

Scratching her stomach absently, Bulma nodded her head. Biting on her lip, Bulma lay there letting the silence between the two of them grow. It wasn't long before she heard Goku's throat clear slightly.

"Um, well, I stopped by Korin's tower to get some senzu beans, but he told me since you weren't injured, they wouldn't work on you. So, sorry I couldn't be more help. And Chi-Chi had me bring over a cake. She doesn't know you're pregnant because I made Yamcha come outside with me when he came over a couple of days ago, but I told her you were sick and she wanted to do something. I hope you don't mind that the top layer's gone. I got hungry on the way over."

Laughing, Bulma relaxed slightly into the couch.

"Gee Goku, you never change do you? Well, I'll forgive you this time. And thanks for not spreading my condition around. It's not like I don't want you guys to know or anything, but it's kind of embarrassing and I'd rather wait until after the baby's born. And even though I'm bored out of my mind, entertaining concerned friends doesn't seem very appealing either. I hate being so useless!"

"Hey, it's no problem. Just make sure that you have a healthy baby. And maybe you could try to lighten up a little bit with Yamcha. I'm not saying go out with him or anything, but maybe you could try to let him be friends with you again?"

Shrugging slightly, Bulma nodded her head slowly as if making her mind up about just exactly how nice she had to be to her former boyfriend.

"Fine Goku, I'll try to be more accommodating. Just as long as he doesn't overstep any boundaries. If he does, I'll just have to unleash the nasty side of my tongue."

Shaking his head wryly, Goku stood up, much to Bulma's disappointment.

"You're leaving already? You just got here!" Pouting slightly, she watched as he put the chair that he had been sitting on back, straightening up once his task was accomplished.

"Yeah, sorry. Chi-Chi's been hounding me about doing stuff around the house that's been ignored due to my training routine. I spent the whole morning fixing stuff and I promised Piccolo I'd make up for sparring this afternoon. I'm going to be late if I don't leave. But I'll come back again, if you want me to."

Feeling frustration at having the one positive thing in her day end, Bulma slowly sat up, swinging her legs over the side of couch, ignoring the complaints from her back. Leaning against the back of the couch, she smiled wanly at her departing guest.

"I'd like it if you came back. You don't piss me off like some people I know."

"Well, thanks, I guess. Oh, I put the cake in the kitchen, in case you want some. See you!" With that, Goku put two fingers to his forehead and then vanished completely from the room.

Sitting back, Bulma folded her arms underneath her chest thinking about Goku's abrupt and rather short visit. It was nice having one good friend she felt she could confide certain things with but it was sad that he visited so infrequently. She remembered hanging out with him all the time when they had been kids searching for dragon balls. It made her realize how much growing up changed relationships. They all had responsibilities now and carefree adventures, while exciting, were over with for good. The finality of that thought was somewhat depressing.

"Oh well, motherhood is an adventure and my life is never going to be boring, being friends with the Z-warriors."

Relaxing against the cushions, she closed her eyes, having nothing better to do. Letting her mind wander, she thought about her past adventures, which had slowly merged into her present life. Before long, her thoughts had completely moved back to Vegeta. Sensing him out, she could barely feel him at all, but it reassured her that he was still alive. Maybe he had finally reached Super Saiyan, but she had a feeling that wasn't the case. When it happened, he would more then likely let her know about it, one way or the other. And then he would come home. It was the last coherent thought she had before she fell asleep sitting upright on the living room couch.

_Well, that's that! I hope it wasn't too bad. Next chapter: What's Vegeta up to? And how is Bulma coping? How long will she have to be in such a retched condition before the baby is born? To find out, you'll have to keep reading! And please review if you would so like. Thanks!_


	29. Chapter 29

_The next chapter! I know it's been a while, but I've had school, school and more school. So thanks for your patience and understanding. I hope you like this chapter. I churned this baby out today, and it's more like a filler chapter. Sort of a transition towards Trunks birth and Vegeta's ascension to Super Saiyan. Hope it makes sense with everything else I've written up to this point. Let me know what you think._

_ And thanks to Bulma and Vegeta fan, HannibalFrost, SilverWing145, Pearl3, Saiya-jin Queen, Stella, Chazie, AngelKougaeri, Cappuccino Penguin, Le Noir de Adhara, Fool-4-Fantasy, The Al Bhed Princess, Kendal, Essence-chan and DragonBall Z maineak for reviewing. As always, you are the greatest and the driving force behind my writing. Thanks!_

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of its characters

_Chapter 29 _

_A month later, somewhere deep within the reaches of uncharted space…_

Life was a pain in the ass. A burden, a joke and a fucking inconvenience.

Laughing cruelly at the lack of humor in his current situation, Vegeta gripped the side of his head as he slumped against the side of his battered and abused spaceship. Feeling frustration battling with the loss of his sanity, he ground a handful of alien rocks into his torn and dirty gloves, cackling at nothing in particular.

He was going to die. Alone. Utterly and completely alone. At least, if he didn't find a way to get off this lump of dried rock and interstellar debris, he was going to perish.

Bulma and goddamn Kakarrot were probably going to have a field day when they found out that the mighty had fallen. The only thing that could be said about his current predicament was that there was breathable air. Otherwise, as far he could tell, he was screwed.

"Fucking piece of shit spaceship! I hate you!"

He knew it was childish to yell and rant at an inanimate hunk of metal, but it was another outlet to vent his frustration besides laughing at nothing. Grinding his teeth and the dust in his gloves simultaneously, Vegeta closed his eyes and tried to think back to when everything had taken a turn for the worse, not counting the first the first month after he'd left and everything had seemed to go wrong with his ship.

Breathing through his nose and ignoring the throbbing in his head, he felt like crying as well as the uncontrollable urge to laugh. He was finally losing it. After all these years of harboring secret pain and distress, he was finally cracking under the pressure. All because he was stuck with a broken spaceship in the middle of nowhere with no communications and very few supplies left, since he'd only stole enough food to last for a couple of months after he had had to restock due to his rotting food stores.

His current streak of bad luck had started three days ago when his ship finally decided to kick the bucket in a relatively remote and out of the way corner of space. Thankfully, he'd been able to find a place to 'land' that would be able to support him for a little while, at least until he ran out of food and water and starved to death. What a pathetic end for a Saiyan warrior such as himself.

Reopening his eyes, he focused them upon the hazy horizon, licking his dry lips and tasting the metallic flavor of blood upon them. Shaking the dust out of his palms, he let his overactive and stressed mind think back to what had gone wrong.

Since the gravity simulator was still out of commission, he'd been landing on remote planets capable of supporting life to train alone. It had been rough the last month, but nothing he hadn't been accustomed too when he had been a purger for Frieza. Well, he considered, nothing except for the stupid leg pains his mate was transmitting to him through their bond. He'd become habituated to them, since they really weren't all that painful. They were just annoying as hell. Thank god he wasn't anywhere near Earth, or he probably would have sawed off his leg and Bulma's too to keep from feeling the pain she was experiencing.

Even though he'd been having a difficult time during his self-imposed separation from Bulma, things had finally started to look up where his training was concerned. Landing on planets that required a great deal of exertion for survival had re-honed his instincts much better then any training in the Gravity Room had done during the past two years or so. And the distance separating himself from Bulma had allowed him to concentrate on becoming more powerful with minimal distractions. Except, he supposed, for the unexpected consequence of feeling lonelier than he normally felt, along with whatever pregnancy-induced pain she was feeling. Stupid bond.

Blinking slowly, he let out a short breath and relaxed his body. What was the point of being pissed off at his current predicament? That wasn't going to get him anywhere, and thinking about Bulma wasn't going to do anything for him either. He needed to concentrate, figure out exactly what the hell had gone wrong with his ship before he let his mind wander off in strange directions.

Closing his eyes half shut and grimacing in pain as he lowered his head against the side of his ship, he analyzed in his brain exactly what had happened that had led to his current desperate situation.

Three days ago, the ship's systems had started to overheat. Realizing there was something wrong with the coolant output system, he'd shut off any unessential functions and looked for a nearby space station. Unfortunately for him, searching for bare, uninhabited planets that offered training space with no distractions had pushed him even farther out into the remoteness of space. The closest space station was ten days away if he flew at the highest speed his ship could muster. There was no way he would be able to fly that fast without overheating the ship's engines, and even if he could fly that fast, he wouldn't make it to the space station before his ship went completely dead. So he'd settled for the closest planet that could support life, sending him to this rocky heap of junk that somehow ended up being classified as a planet. It was more like an asteroid to him, but what the hell? He'd never concerned himself with astronomy anyway. What was the point, considering he'd turned more planets then he could count into wastelands all for the glory of the Ice-jin Empire. Letting out a sour laugh, he decided he'd rather not think about his time under Frieza if he didn't have to. Instead, he turned his thoughts back to making it to this worthless, crater infested boulder.

He'd made it to this planet in the knick of time. As soon as his ship entered the planet's mesosphere, almost all of the ships systems had cut out. Switching over to manual controls, he'd managed to land the ship, although it had been a rough re-entry and the ship's landing gear had failed to work properly. As soon as it had hit the rough ground, his ship had rolled down a canyon; throwing Vegeta out of the captain's chair and bouncing him around the ship like a rag doll. Fortunately, the ship's outer hull had been minimally damaged, a miracle in and of itself. And on top of that this ship had somehow managed to land upright, another small miracle.

Vegeta, unfortunately, hadn't fared as well. He had a head wound that was still bleeding, he most likely was suffering from a concussion and he had a few broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. His last serviceable training suit was ripped in places and the overall outlook of his situation looked dismal.

He could treat his injuries, having sustained much worse in the past on purging missions. And the planet would suffice as far as his training purposes went. But if he couldn't figure out a way to fix his ship's coolant system or radio someone to help him out, he was a living, breathing corpse.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the sleepiness that was descending upon him, a symptom of his concussion, Vegeta slowly stood back up and used the outside of his ship as a support. Groaning in pain, he limped back up the ramp into the dim interior of what had been his home for the last four months or so.

Thinking fuzzily, he realized that there had to be some sort of manual for repairs. Bulma and her father didn't seem to be the type to make a prototype without some sort of guide for fixing it, should it break down. He'd never bothered to look for it before because in the past, he'd always had Bulma to rely upon for repairs. Now, however, it was up to him to solve the problem of getting out of the planet's surface alive.

Letting out a whine of pain when he accidentally jarred his injured shoulder against the control center, Vegeta knelt down before it and removed the outside panel that hid part of the ship's wiring. He vaguely remembered seeing Bulma grab something out of there that had looked like a book of some sort. Hoping the thought in his head wasn't a delusion brought about by his head injury, he felt around until his hand closed around something that definitely didn't feel like wiring or bolts. Pulling it out, he let out a sigh of relief that the object he held was indeed a repair manual. Dusting off the cover, he threw it over to his bed, which had thankfully been bolted down along with everything else on the ship. He didn't want to even think about what could have happened had he tried to land the ship and then had to duck from flying objects. What a pain.

Standing up shakily, Vegeta slowly walked over to one of the many storage cabinets that his ship held. Pulling it open, he felt that horrible sense of wanting to cry when the capsules fell out and landed on his feet, rolling across the floor of the ship. Blaming it on stress, he chased after the escaping capsules, grabbing one that was marked with a cross for first aid.

Taking his find back to his bed, he sat down on the messed up covers, slowly and carefully lifting his armor clear of his body and then peeling down his body suit so that he chest and arms were exposed.

Feeling down his side with his good arm, he found the spot where two of his ribs where fractured. Pushing them back into position, he let out a strangled cry of pain. Panting unevenly, he took the capsule and pushed the release button, watching as a first aid kit suddenly appeared next to him on the bed. Opening it up, he pulled out a roll of body wrapping and started to bind his ribs. With that task finished, he walked over to the bathroom area and washed away the blood that had clotted in his hair and spilled down part of his face. Watching as the rust colored water rinsed down the sink to the water-recycling container, he let out a short sigh, wincing when his diaphragm expanded and contracted, agitating his broken and sore ribs. Carefully examining his scalp with his one good hand, he found the head wound had stopped bleeding and was relatively shallow. Just to be on the safe side, he wrapped up part of his head with the rest of the bandages that were left over and then left the bathroom.

Sitting back down on his bed, Vegeta slowly pulled his body suit back up. When that was done, he mentally prepared himself for the pain he knew he was going to experience and then he thrust his shoulder back into position, biting down a scream of agony. Breathing heavily, he closed his dark eyes and focused his mind on his goal to reach Super Saiyan as a way to remove the pain from his body. In a few minutes, all that was left was a dull throbbing in his head, on his side and up his shoulder. Rummaging around once again in the first aid kit, he pulled out a sling and put his arm in it.

Leaning carefully against the wall his bed was next to, he found his eyes starting to close and snapped them open before he could fall asleep. He knew that he had to stay awake for another few hours, but with the stress his body had endured and throbbing his head and the rest of his body were lulling him into a state of forced relaxation. It was dangerous to be alone with a head injury, but again, he had been in worse situations and had come out fine. Besides, being a Saiyan, his healing capabilities where much quicker then that of humans. In a couple of days, there would be no sign that he had ever hit his head. However, for the time being, he had to remain focused or else the consequences could be bad.

Slowly grabbing the manual, he opened it up and tried to concentrate on the print that was swimming across his vision. Squeezing his eyes shut, he threw the book to the side and then found himself leaning over the bed and vomiting on the floor.

"Fuck!" he groaned as he wiped away the sour bile and saliva that was clinging to his chin.

Swallowing, he felt the uncomfortable burning sensation in his throat from the acid that had been thrust up and out of his esophagus. It was completely revolting, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment, too dizzy to walk back over to the tap for a drink of water.

Lying back on the bed, he closed his eyes, feeling as though the ship where moving beneath him, even though it was stationary. Opening that book had been a stupid idea on his part, but it had been the only thing he could think of to try to keep himself from falling into an unconscious state. Now he was dizzy, nauseous, had a splitting headache and felt like he wanted to pass out. None of those were good signs, yet there was nothing he could do about it. He was irrefutably stuck in a bind.

Willing away his nausea, he shifted his mind towards Bulma. He had been thinking about her more frequently then he would have liked in the past month, but at least he could say he finally felt in control of his mind once more, after months of feeling his mental walls crumbling away. Still, there was something about their bond that drew his stray thoughts to her, like a moth to a flame. Feeling his body starting to drift towards unconsciousness, he opened his mind fully towards their connection, something he hadn't done since he had gone to her in a dream, asking her for help though it had killed some of his pride to do so. Smiling dreamily, he realized then as he did now that it had been nice seeing her, although he would never physically admit to such…such _feelings_ on his part.

In a manner of seconds, he felt a jolt as her awareness joined with his. Had his brain not been injured at the moment, he would have been in complete control of their meeting, shaping their rendezvous to reflect where he was and what he needed. This meeting, however, was more of an injury and loneliness induced one. One in which he didn't have control at all, not being able to function or act like he normally did.

He found himself in a black void, laughing as he looked at himself and realized he was completely naked. Giggling like a drunken moron, he collapsed on the floor of the void and waited until Bulma's mental image appeared before him.

"V...Vegeta?" She asked and he laughed.

"Who else would it be…Woman?" Giggling over how stupid he sounded, he tried to stand up and felt the void tilt on its axis, making him fall over and groan in dizziness.

"What…what exactly is wrong with you? This isn't some sort of sick and twisted joke, is it? Because I'm not in the mood, asshole!"

Sitting up again, he rubbed the back of his head and winced, feeling a sharp pain shoot through his skull. That wasn't right, was it? Was it possible to feel pain here? He thought that maybe it was, but he couldn't remember. Where was he anyway?

"Joke? Woman, I have no sense of humor. I'm a Saiyan Prince!"

Mumbling 'Saiyan Prince' to himself, he started giggling again, for no other reason except that in this strange dream, it felt right. Lying on his back, he cried out in pain when he rolled onto his side. Pain…pain…where was the pain coming from? Moving over onto his back, the ache receded, but his confusion only seemed to increase. Looking towards the top of the expanding darkness around him, he yelled when a ghostly face peered into his own, milky skin and piercing blue eyes contrasting sharply with the inky black that surrounded him.

"For Kami's sake, it's me Vegeta. Bulma. Get a grip on yourself and put some clothes on or something. You're starting to scare me with the way you're acting."

"Weeellll Woman, now you know what it's like."

"What what is like Vegeta?"

"To have your barriers stripped away, your pride stolen and your sanity reduced to nothing."

Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh of elation, happy to have finally told her how he really felt about things. Wait, did he want to tell her those things? Crinkling his eyebrows, he felt confused. No, he didn't want her to know about his vulnerability, did he? That's why he had escaped from her, right? Deciding he really didn't know and that he didn't care, he relaxed a bit until he felt something prodding him on his shoulder.

Opening his eyes slowly, he saw the figure of his woman leaning over him again, a look of deep concern on her face warring with one of disgust and anger.

"Come on Vegeta, snap out of it! If this is some sort of nasty prank you're playing on me at the expense of our bond, I don't think it's amusing in the least. I don't want to be here. So let me out or at least tell my why you're acting so…so _creepy_!"

She sounded afraid, his Bulma, and he couldn't have that. Not here, not in this place. Pushing himself upright again, he cradled his head in his chin, trying to focus his fuzzy, swimming thoughts into something that made sense. Something he could piece together for her.

"I crashed the space capsule."

Yes, that was it, wasn't it? Letting out a grunt of irritation over his lack of focus, he started to pick at his fingernails, noticing that they seemed dirty to him for some strange reason. Losing his mental concentration again, he almost jumped out of his skin when Bulma reacted to his statement.

"You what? Oh my God Vegeta! Are you hurt? Where are you? Do you need somebody to come out and rescue you?"

Feeling the world rocking around him, it took him a moment to realize that she was shaking his shoulders. Crying out in pain, he pushed himself away from her, trying to get as far away from discomfort as was physically possible.

"Don't touch me. You're hurting me." Pouting slightly, he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping the shaking would dissipate.

In what seemed to be a decent amount of time, he opened them again, only to find Bulma kneeling next to him, her stomach protruding from her like some sort of giant monstrosity. Leaning forward slightly, she took his hand in hers and stroked it gently, calming down the agitation he was feeling from being so confused.

"I'm sorry Vegeta. I didn't mean to hurt you. If you don't think about the pain, it won't bother you here. I've been coming to a place sort of like this a lot, hoping to see you, even though I think you're the biggest dick the world has ever known. But my leg doesn't bother me here and that's the other reason I come so much when I'm tired or sleeping."

"Woman…" It felt nice, comforting almost, to be sitting here like this with her. Why had he wanted to leave? It didn't seem clear to him anymore. Because she scared him? Because he didn't understand his own feelings? Those seemed to be petty reasons to his hazy, pain and injury induced mind.

"Really Vegeta, try to think of where you are and what happened. If this really isn't some sort of mind game that you're playing on me, it seems like your mental projection, if that's what this is called, is reflecting your physical state. You're acting loopy, like you have a head injury or something. Or else you're drunk or on drugs. Either way, it doesn't seem good. Can you think of anything?"

Swallowing, he tried to concentrate on details that he knew where floating around somewhere.

"I…no rescue. It's under control. Hit my head, broke my ribs and dislocated my shoulder. I feel sick." His head was throbbing from the extensive use of trying to piece things together for her.

"Vegeta, that does _not_ sound like you have things under control. How did you end up crash landing anyway?"

Growling in irritation, he couldn't figure out why she was asking so many damned questions. He didn't want to answer any more questions to make himself clearer. Couldn't she see that he was tired and confused? What the hell was her problem?

"I don't fucking know, alright? Ugh." He hissed in pain as he tried wrenching his body away from hers to give himself a small amount of space.

Sighing, Bulma rubbed the bridge of her nose. He was definitely out of it, but that just worried her even more. If what he was saying were true…he could be dying for all she knew. And he was too unfocused to help her out.

"Calm down Vegeta. Just relax and think a little. How did you end up crashing the ship?" she asked in a soothing tone of voice.

Sighing deeply, Vegeta thought back even though it was difficult for him to grasp the information that passed through his mind. It took him a few minutes, but he finally figured out the answer to her inquiry. Well, he hoped it was right anyway. She couldn't say that he hadn't tried.

"The…the coolant system malfunctioned. Ship overheated."

Bulma let out a sigh of relief. Of all things that could malfunction, that was the easiest to fix. Most likely, the coolant system had either encountered a short or one of the valves had broken, causing the ship to automatically siphon off the coolant to a storage container. Once his ship cooled back down, if he used his brain and the ship's repair manual, there were spare parts for repairs like that stored on board. All the other systems would work once the ship wasn't overheating. But then again, it was a good thing he had found someplace to land before all of the ship's systems cut out from overheating. The scenarios that played across her mind made her shudder.

"Well, you should be able to fix that. You found the manual didn't you? I had dad put in essential spare parts in case something like this would happen to you. Just follow the instructions in the repair manual and you should have the ship up and running in a day or two."

Vegeta just shook his head, too out of it and too confused to really understand everything Bulma had spouted off to him. She talked too much, one thing he hadn't missed about her at all.

"Fine Woman." Trying to stand up, he collapsed back into a heap and groaned. He felt like his head was going to explode. Grabbing onto a fistful of hair, he rubbed at his scalp vigorously, trying to ease away the ache that was permeating through his skull.

"Vegeta, are you sure you don't need to be rescued? Nobody's going to hold it against you, you know. I could get Goku to use his disappearing thingy or something to get you back."

Snapping his eyes open, Vegeta glared at her. How _she_ could suggest such a thing as having Kakarot come and rescue him was beyond ridiculous.

"Noooo." He slurred out. He would find his way back, wouldn't he? Yes, he would. He was a Saiyan after all.

"Vegeta, you aren't thinking rationally here. I don't want you to die."

"I'm not dying…I'm…I'm…sleeping."

With that said, he decided he was through talking with her, even though he didn't really want to leave. But speaking with her was making him feel even sicker then before. Besides, lying on the floor in the nude was uncomfortable and cold. He wanted to be warm again.

Not saying anything to her, he somehow managed to pull his deranged consciousness away from their bond and back into his own head, disappearing altogether from Bulma.

Not even really thinking, he drifted back to a complete and dreamless sleep, one that he would hopefully wake up from.

_Meanwhile…_

Bulma woke up on her makeshift bed in the downstairs family room. Rubbing her eyes, she let out a yawn and then let her thoughts drift lazily across her half-conscious mind.

Vegeta…she had seen Vegeta. Yawning again, she sat up slowly, trying not to disturb her leg and back. The last thing she needed at the moment was a sharp pain up her side.

Where the hell was he? She was more then a little irritated that he hadn't contacted her in over a month, ever since she had wound up in the emergency room because of her sciatic nerve condition. However, that connection had been…disturbing. Whether it was just a figment of her overactive imagination or that had actually been him, she never wanted to seem in such a state again. Although she didn't really like Vegeta's overall personality, seeing him so confused and loopy was disconcerting. There was no way that she was ever going to allow him to get drunk. She didn't think she'd be able to live with him if ever allowed anyone to see him in such a…giddy state of mind.

Still, if he really was stranded and injured on some strange planet, she didn't like the idea of him dying from his injuries because he was too proud to ask for help, even in as mixed up of a state of mind as he had been in. Trying to shake the uneasiness from her thoughts, she tried to get comfortable again, realizing that it was only a little after 2:00 in the morning. Unfortunately, her body had other ideas.

Shuffling her legs over the side of the bed, she heaved herself upwards and prepared herself for the sharp pains that were going to accompany such a sudden movement on her part. However, instead of feeling the usual agony, she felt…nothing. Well, nothing besides her overriding need to urinate.

Waddling across the hallway to one of the downstairs bathrooms, Bulma made it just in time. Washing her hands, she cursed her pregnant state, almost thanking Kami that in less then a month, her baby was going to be born. She had had enough of swollen ankles, back pains, sciatica and a reduced bladder size to last her for a lifetime. After this, she was going to swear of men for life, especially Vegeta.

Shaking her head, she waddled back to the family room and pushed her way into the bed, realization finally dawning on her that she wasn't feeling her usual symptoms from sciatica. This meant only one thing: that her baby had finally shifted position. If she could have, she would have danced around the room in a circle. But her current body shape and lack of energy didn't really recommend her silly idea. Besides, she was back to worrying about Vegeta.

He was such a proud and arrogant idiot. If he had any common sense in his oversized head, he would have turned around as soon as things had started to fall apart on that stupid space capsule. But no, he wasn't the kind of man who would turn back on his word for something as _insignificant_ as repair. Besides, she thought, he would have been insufferable to live with, most likely blaming her for the return home.

At any rate, the thought of him alone and stranded wasn't something she wanted to dwell on, especially since she was getting close to her time. The fact was, no matter how much she tried to deny her feelings for Vegeta they were there. She loved him in a strange sort of way, even though she was still extremely angry and hurt over his abandonment of her. And even though she wasn't going to act like the ever forgiving, dutiful little wife when he got back, she had secretly harbored a hope that somehow, someway, he would make it back for the birth of their baby. But obviously, something as significant as a birth was lost on him and his ultimate goal to reach Super Saiyan. In her opinion, it was pretty sad when a father was more concerned about power and greatness then welcoming their firstborn into the world.

Rubbing her eyes, she tried to go back to sleep. This whole situation sucked, no matter how she looked at things. Even though she had gotten over blaming herself for Vegeta's disappearance, things certainly weren't easy. And they weren't going to get any easier when he got back either. He would have to readjust himself to her and he would have to discover fatherhood at the same time. Besides that, she would have to face the fact that we would most likely continue to prepare for the Android attack and that once that day finally arrived, he might never come back again. He could leave her after the fight or he could die, and neither one of those scenarios sat well with her, no matter how much she might dislike Vegeta currently.

Sighing, she shifted in the bed, leaning up against her bed pillow. Closing her eyes, she said a little prayer to Kami to guide and help her arrogant mate out of whatever predicament he currently was in. Pretending she was holding onto Vegeta, she let out a yawn and drifted back to sleep.

_Where is Vegeta and will he recover from his injuries? And is Bulma really cured for the moment? And of course, will Trunks finally make an appearance? Find out in the next chapter! And as always, please read and review!_

_Also, a bit of shameless self-promotion: I have another Bulma/Vegeta story called "Don't Ever Let Go." It's different than this one as it takes place after the Cell games. Please check it out and tell me what you think, if you would like to. Thanks-Vegamarie_


	30. Chapter 30

_A/N: Okay, where to begin? I apologize for taking over a month to update. It's just been a hell of a month for me. Taking ten graduate credits and working part time might not seem like a lot, but believe me, it is. Besides, I have a horrible, horrible habit of procrastinating when it comes to things I don't really like to do, namely end of the semester projects. So I got kind of tied up. But the good news is the semester is over and hopefully, I will find more time to update on a regular basis, since I'm finished with the classroom portion of my degree and won't have to take summer classes. My goal is to finish this story by the end of the summer, because once the fall semester hits, I really won't have much time to write fan fiction, as I will be student teaching full time._

_And, I'm trying something a little different in this chapter. I've skipped ahead because I felt my story was going to start becoming redundant with the whole Vegeta/Bulma separation. You'll see what I mean when you read it. Instead of following their misadventures, they'll be recounted as flashbacks. Hope this makes sense!_

_And thanks to DBZFanattic, Chazie, Pearl3, Essence-chan, Cappuccino Penguin, rayray, Fool-4-Fantasy, Maatlockk, HannibalFrost, MissKira, bimbosarahsurfchick, and Stella for sending me fabulous reviews! You know that I appreciate you gals and guys!_

_Well, on with the story!_

_Chapter 30_

It was a typical quiet winter evening near the eastern coast of the main continent. The sun had set a few hours before and the stars were now out, seeming to twinkle more brightly in the frosty and frigid nighttime air.

Deciding to take advantage of the clear night, a local fisherman went about launching his boat, not heeding the warnings his wife had given him about fishing in such frigid weather. He was a seasoned man of the ocean and fishing was his livelihood. He'd fished in more adverse conditions than this, and he couldn't understand what her problem was about going out on this particular night. Just some silly superstition about bad luck when the stars were shining down so brightly or some other such nonsense. It was a bunch of stupid hooey in his opinion and besides, he was more than capable of taking care of himself. Still it did warm his heart that she seemed to be so concerned about him. Smiling crookedly, he finished putting his supplies into his boat and then turned on the motor, puttering out into the lengthening darkness of the night, the dark water rippling behind him.

He had no idea how long he was out on the water by himself, the only thing keeping him company being his old boat and the lamp he had shining as a beacon to other boats where his position was. Shivering slightly, he went over and checked on his nets, disappointed to see that there didn't seem to be any fish moving around in the water. Perhaps his wife and been right and it _was_ a waste of time to come out on such a cold winter evening.

Sighing slightly, he sat back down next to his oil stove and leaned back against the side of his boat. At least it was a nice night for star gazing, one of his favorite hobbies besides fishing. Looking up into the clear sky, he started to find the constellations that had guided so many sailors and fishermen in the past as navigation tools. Even though modern technology, thanks to Capsule Corporation, had pretty much made such techniques antiquated, he found enjoyment just watching as the night sky shifted above and how the constellations changed from season to season.

A few hours passed, and still the fisherman had no luck in catching anything. Tiring of looking into the night sky, he somehow had managed to fall asleep, but for how long, even he wasn't too sure. Feeling his boat suddenly rock as a gust of wind blew out of the north, he snorted awake, finding himself slightly disorientated. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he sat up slowly and cursed over his stupidity in falling asleep in such an uncomfortable place. Blinking his eyes, he scanned the horizon, noting that it still hadn't started to lighten in the east. Checking his position, he realized that he must have fallen asleep for probably and hour or so and his boat had drifted slightly off course.

Muttering curses under his breath, he got up and checked his nets, finding again that they were empty. He was about to start the motor and turn around to head towards the coast when something made him glance backwards and look up into the still dark night sky.

Blinking his eyes rapidly, he saw what looked to be a shooting star streaking across the sky. Fascinated by the sight, he followed its movement for a few seconds until he realized something. Most meteorites vanished within a few seconds, burning rapidly when they entered into the Earth's atmosphere. But this meteorite was still glowing brightly and by the looks of it, it was getting closer and closer to where he was. Widening his eyes and swearing loudly, he realized that what he was seeing was either some sort of crashing satellite or an alien spaceship.

Quickly pulling in his empty nets and starting the motor of his boat, he had a horrible feeling that whatever was flying through the sky was going to crash somewhere near in proximity to where he was. Looking over his shoulder as he started making his way as quickly as possible towards the shore, he swallowed in horror as he saw the object closing in on him faster then he was able to move his old boat.

Instinctively shielding his face and cowering onto the floor of his fishing boat, the man felt an intense heat as the object streaked over him. The energy from its passage agitated the water around his boat, tossing it to and fro as though it were a flimsy piece of driftwood. Not waiting for his boat to settle down in the water, the man stood up suddenly, realizing that he was still alive. Shielding his eyes from the intense brightness of the object, he watched as it vanished over a ridge of nearby mountains out of site. In less then a second, he saw the sky to the west of him light up as though it were on fire and heard the unmistakable sound of something crash landing in the distance.

Letting out a shaky sigh and feeling ten years older than he had a moment before, the fisherman collapsed back onto the floor of his boat, holding onto his chest as he waited for his rapidly beating heart to slow down. Deciding that perhaps his wife had been correct in telling him he was a complete baka to go fishing on a night like tonight, the man once again started his boat towards the shore once he felt sufficiently recovered. The only other thing he could do would be to phone the authorities and let them know that something…something unearthly had come this way and had crashed in the remote area of the eastern mountains.

_Meanwhile, somewhere in Capsule Corporation…_

An infant's cry pierced the stillness of the night, waking up a certain blue haired genius who had finally managed to fall asleep in her nice, warm bed. Sitting up slowly, she winced as a particularly loud shriek sounded through the baby monitor that she had set up next to her bed, making her ears feel like they were going to start bleeding at any second. Letting out a sigh of inevitability, Bulma shifted her legs from underneath her warm blankets and slowly got out of bed.

Sliding her feet into a pair of slippers, she stifled a yawn with her mouth, pursing her lips when she realized it was only about 1 am in the morning and that her baby had probably only been asleep for a couple of hours. Still, when he wanted attention or he was hungry or in need of a change, he wouldn't stop shrieking until he got what he wanted. Something he most likely had inherited from her, but she had a feeling that Vegeta's royal genes had also contributed to his cranky and demanding nature.

Shrugging at her pointless thoughts, Bulma shuffled tiredly across the floor of her room and then across the hallway, not even bothering to put on a bathrobe. Stepping into the room of her baby, she couldn't help but smile when she saw his little arms and legs flailing and his little mouth opened to let out an angry wail.

Leaning over the crib, she gently picked up Trunks in her arms and walked over to the rocking chair that was conveniently nearby. Jiggling him in a comforting motion and cooing to him softly, he immediately calmed down and then latched his chubby fist onto one of her breasts.

"Man, you sure have those Saiyan genes in you, that's for sure my little Trunkie-poo. Yes you do! Always after your Mama's milk, huh? It's amazing my body can keep up with you!"

Sitting down in the rocking chair, Bulma smiled down at her first born and gently stroked the fuzzy crown of his head before she one handedly unbuttoned her pajama shirt so that Trunks could attach himself to his prize. Almost as soon as she was done, the little squirt was latched on and suckling contently as Bulma rocked him back and forth on the little chair.

In all honesty, even though Bulma didn't like the horrible hours she had had to keep ever since Trunks had finally made his way into the world, she loved being a mother. Specifically, she loved being a mother to a baby who needed her and she was going to really miss the feeling of being the center of his universe once he started walking and became more independent. But that wouldn't be for at least another year or hopefully longer and so she still had time to enjoy the feeling of being a new mother.

Rocking him slowly in the chair, Bulma leaned her head back and let her mind wander. This was the other part she liked about being a new mother: she had time to mull things over in her mind, especially things that were bothering her or felt…well, felt strange.

It had been almost five months since Trunks had been born and still she had heard nothing from Vegeta. In fact, she hadn't heard _or _felt anything from him since the night he had had a dream communication with her in which he had been anything but normal. It was a horrible feeling thinking that he could be dead out in the universe somewhere, especially with things as unresolved as they were between the two of them. Yet, for some reason, she had a very strong feeling that he wasn't dead. Most likely, it was because of the bond that they shared, but even that wasn't one hundred percent reliable.

Vegeta had gone into space to train without distractions, but she also knew that he had made his way out into the void to repair the damage to his mental walls that had somehow occurred as a result of their mental linkage. The farther apart they were from one another, the more difficult it was to share that sense of connectedness, at least on her side. Perhaps, rebuilding his walls had also caused this feeling of separation and loneliness. Whatever the case, it was hard to get an accurate reading of where he was. Yet within the last few recent months, she had started to feel as though he was getting physically closer. Still, not hearing anything made her wonder if she was just imagining that in her head because she wanted him home, even though she was still upset with him for leaving in the first place _and _taking his sweet assed time getting back to Earth.

"I wonder where your daddy is Trunkies? Probably somewhere floating around in space, cursing because his ship isn't working and his life feels like it's going down the toilet. Ha, well that would serve him right, wouldn't it Trunks?"

Bulma let out a slight chuckle over the fact that she was talking to a baby who was more interested in her breasts and couldn't understand a word she had said anyway. Stroking his warm back, she took in a deep breath and then let it out slowly, letting her mind wander back to Vegeta.

It just ticked her off to no end that he was such an ass, not even bothering to contact her after he had supposedly crashed the ship to let her know that he was alive. Or when Trunks had been born. Knowing that he could feel whatever pain she was feeling because of her inability to keep those feelings blocked in her mind, she knew he had to have had a clue when she had gone into labor. The more she thought about _that _the more she felt irritated beyond belief. She also had started to feel a sense of hopelessness where he was concerned. By pretty much ignoring her, he was making it clearer and clearer that where she was concerned, he really could care less and the whole bonding things had happened only because of her stupidity and his stupid hormones. He most likely had never felt anything for her from the beginning, and even if he had, he had managed to push those thoughts and feelings into the complicated mess that made up his subconscious. All in the pursuit of reaching Super Saiyan. And all of this together put Bulma into another predicament.

If what she was sensing wasn't a fluke of her imagination, then Vegeta was finally on his way back to Earth. This meant one of two things: 1. He had finally reached his goal to become a Super Saiyan or 2. He hadn't reached his goal and he had run out of resources to keep himself alive and his ship in working condition. Whatever the reason was, it meant that he would be here sooner rather then later and that brought up the uncomfortable realization that she had no clue how to treat her jerk of a mate.

She could vaguely remember telling him that she wasn't going to act all welcoming or nice, but would she be able to hold out on that threat? Part of her wanted to ignore him completely, much as he had done to her for the last ten months. However, she knew that such a move on her part would mean nothing to him. Moreover, he would probably appreciate the fact that she wasn't talking to him, since he claimed she had a big mouth. Besides, using the silent treatment as a form of punishment was pretty immature and she was beyond that sort of behavior.

The truth was, she wanted Vegeta to come to terms with their relationship, much as she was doing. She couldn't back out of it, especially since they had a child together. And she couldn't ignore the fact that she most likely did love him in a strange sort of way. That was what was so hard about the situation. It would be very difficult for her to treat him indifferently because of the fact that no matter how much he angered her or pissed her off, there was no way out. She had already committed her feelings to him even though he still had a long way to go in reciprocating those same feelings.

Blinking her eyes, Bulma's thoughts turned back to reality when she felt Trunks let go of his meal and then try to push his face over to the other side of her chest. Smiling slightly at how greedy he was, she shifted him over to he could finish his early morning feeding.

"Well Trunks, I have a feeling that very soon, you're going to meet your papa. I just hope he doesn't go nuts when he sees that you don't have a tail anymore and that you inherited your hair and eyes from your mom's side of the family. At least you're a boy. He can't find fault with that. Anyway, he doesn't have room to complain, does he? Nope, not at all!"

Trunks just blinked his eyes rapidly and then started to suckle even more eagerly at his proffered meal.

"Babies! You have such a one track mind Trunks-kun! Sometimes I wish it was that simple for us adults."

Relaxing into the rhythm of rocking back and forth, Bulma inevitably started to doze off, thinking about Vegeta as she entered a state of semi-wakefulness. Drifting along like a leaf floating down a gentle stream, Bulma suddenly jolted awake when a sudden sense of awareness passed through her body like an electric current. She felt…extreme anger and a fading sense of pain before it was gone as suddenly as it had came. Flopping back into the rocking chair, she shook her head slightly. No doubt, it had something to do with Vegeta, but what…she really had no idea. Letting out a shaky breath, she also realized that Trunks was finally done feeding. Burping him gently, she waited until he fell asleep and then stood up to put him back in his crib. Pulling the blanket up over his little shoulders, she leaned over and kissed him on the head and then buttoned up her partially open pajama shirt.

Leaving the nursery, she headed back across the hall to her own bedroom, stopping at her doorway and looking over at the room next to hers. Shaking her head slightly, she couldn't get over the sense that Vegeta was nearby, almost as if he would suddenly walk through the doorway of the room he had been sleeping in since he had moved in with her family a little over three years ago.

"I must be imagining things," she muttered to herself as she opened her bedroom door up and walked inside. Plopping down on the mattress, she pulled the blankets up to her chin and stared at the ceiling.

In a few minutes, her eyelids started to feel droopy and before long, she was back in a world of dreams, all of which centered around the man who had made her life so confusing in such a relatively short amount of time.

_Meanwhile…_

Vegeta cursed loudly as his ship started to make its final descent back into the place of its origin: planet Earth. Slamming his fist into the control panel, not having learned his lesson the numerous times he had made things worse by letting his colossal temper get the better of him, he swore when all of the ship's warning systems started to blink and go off.

"Piece of shit! Why the fuck do you always have to give me so much trouble? Damn Woman and her damn inventions!"

It was like déjà vu all over again when he had crashed onto the barren wasteland of a planet in the middle of deep space. But this time, he did have the foresight to put his safety harness on. It wouldn't do to end up having another serious head injury because he was stupid enough to think that his head would withstand being rocketed into a wall at supersonic speeds. He wasn't invincible, even though he would have liked to think that he was.

Growling in frustration because he couldn't get the ship to cooperate with him, he braced for the inevitable impact and hoped that the bucket of bolts would be able to withstand the jarring landing that was seconds away from happening. Watching through the view screen, which was still working for some reason even though most of the rest of the ship's systems had decided to bite the dust, he saw what he assumed was water and then what looked suspiciously like a mountain range. Bracing himself with his arms, his entire body was jolted with the rippling of shock waves as his home for the last ten months finally found its welcome in the rocky mountains of Planet Earth. Feeling the ship stop suddenly and fold inwardly, Vegeta panicked. The last thing he needed was for his body to be turned into skewered meat by his rapidly compacting ship. Without really thinking, he powered up and quickly blasted through the remains of his ship, landing hundreds of feet away as he watched the piece of shit finally explode from the impact. Shielding his body with his ki, he ducked as flying debris shot through the air, narrowly missing where he was standing.

In a few seconds, it was over with and all that was left were the smoldering remains of the cursed vessel he had taken into space. Letting out a sigh of relief that his hellish ordeal was finally over with, Vegeta collapsed onto a rock and tried to center his thoughts.

The whole damn trip had been cursed from the beginning and if it hadn't been for his pride, he probably would have come back months ago to get much-needed repairs. However, he wasn't the type of man to come back with his tail between his legs, and until he had finally felt in control of his mind again and had attained Super Saiyan, he had decided to suffer the consequences of travelling around in a malfunctioning space capsule.

Letting out a huff of breath, he brushed his hands through his hair and then rubbed the bridge of his nose. Bulma was going to be enraged when she found out that her precious ship was now no more then a pile of scrap.

"What the hell do I care what she thinks? She means nothing to me! Blasted Woman!" Vegeta grunted out half-heartedly.

In all honesty, he still didn't feel ready to face his mate. Even though he felt as though his metal barriers were back up, he was afraid that being around her all the time was going to make him go batty again. They just didn't seem to be as strong as before and he had a sinking sensation that part of him was starting to cave into the bond. Not for the first time did he really wish he understood all of its intricacies. All he knew was that the closer he came to Earth, the stronger his connection to Bulma felt and the more he realized how much her consciousness was starting to merge unknowingly with his. They were still two separate individuals, but he felt like invisible wires were starting to pull them together, even over the space of months and the huge distance that had separated them. It was such an inconvenience and he couldn't afford to have his mental faculties breached again, not with the Android invasion only being months in the future. He would just to have to suck up his discomfort and act like he always did around her: like the proud, arrogant Prince that he was.

Standing up, he brushed off the dirt from the remains of his tattered body suit and armor. He had a feeling he looked like hell, but in all reality, he didn't really care. However, the fact remained that he was looking forward to having a shower and sleeping in a comfortable bed after having roughed it for the last ten months or so. Who knew that the creature comforts of living at Capsule Corporation would have grown on him in such a paltry amount of time? Grunting over his growing softness where amenities were concerned, Vegeta readied himself and then blasted off in the air, heading towards West City.

Looking as he flew, he mentally figured out that he was somewhere near the East Coast. Taking his time, he plotted a trajectory and then flew leisurely towards his temporary home. He still wasn't happy about the prospect of seeing Bulma, but the bonded part of his sub-conscious was looking forward to the inevitable confrontation that was going to happen when she found out he was back. Mulling over his stupid thoughts where they concerned his mate, he found himself wondering what she looked like. The last time he remembered seeing her in a dream, she had a hugely swollen and distended stomach. He had no idea how long human pregnancies lasted, so for all he knew, she still hadn't given birth to their brat. That thought sickened him to no end. He hoped to god that she still wasn't pregnant because if that were the case, he wouldn't be able to live in the same house as her with her horrible mood swings and strange cravings.

He knew she wasn't suffering from leg pains anymore, which was a relief. But other than a few images and the strange dream he had had when he had fallen unconscious due to the head injury he had been afflicted with, he had no idea what he would find when he met up with his mate.

Letting his mind zone out to auto pilot, Vegeta flew silently in the cold air. Within an hour, he found himself entering above West City, letting the lights guide him towards the center of town where Capsule Corporation was located. In a few seconds, he found himself hovering over the place that had become his home on the lump of rock he was now partially tied to until he reached his goal of destroying Kakarot. Smiling maliciously, he suddenly realized that he was that much closer to reaching that particular goal. At least, once the Android threat was dealt with. And no one on this mud ball had a clue. Not even his mate. Smirking slightly, he slowly landed onto the balcony that lead into the room he had been using before he had left to train in space.

Opening up the balcony door, he made his way inside. For the first time, an unusual feeling washed over his body as he entered his room. If he were the type of person who could readily label feelings, he would have probably said that he was content and perhaps glad to be back. But such feelings where new and disturbing to Vegeta, so instead of letting them soak into his body, he pushed them out of the way and focused his mind on more immediate details, like pulling out some clean clothing and taking a shower.

Walking over to the closet, he grunted bitterly when he realized that he had taken most of his clothing with him, and now said clothing was nothing but ashes and rags, disintegrating when his ship had exploded into an inferno. Still, he managed to dig up a pair of boxer shorts and a long sleeved T-shirt. Making his way to the bathroom, he noted that his room was back in order with a new door and carpeting. Stepping inside, he also saw that they had replaced the mirror he had smashed when he had gone through a mental breakdown. Twisting his lips into a disgusted grimace, he tried to forget about that moment of weakness on his part, instead focusing on finally getting rid of the accumulated sweat and grime that had become a permanent addition to his body as he trained in space.

In no time at all, Vegeta was clean, dry, and comfortable in the strange ensemble he had pulled out of the closet to wear. Not feeling particularly tired at the moment, he found himself torn about what to do. Deciding that getting something to eat would probably be a wise move on his part, he walked towards his bedroom door and then pushed the button to open it. Stepping into the hallway, he suddenly felt the urge to walk next door and check up on Bulma. Gritting his teeth over such a ridiculous desire, especially when he was still trying to prove to himself that he could effectively ignore her, he quickly tried to turn around when he noticed the room across from hers.

Curious, he crinkled his brow in concentration. As far as he knew, Bulma had never used the room, so it was strange that there was a dull light glowing from within coupled with the fact that the door was left strangely open. Making his way to the room, he stopped in the open doorway and peered inside.

What greeted his eyes was something he had never seen before. In the middle of the room was an object that looked like a small bed with bars around it. Looking about, he noticed the room itself was painted rather oddly, looking like it was meant for someone who had a serious mental defect. Someone like Kakarot. Walking stealthily into the center of the room where the small bed was, he leaned over it and looked inside only to finally realize what the significance of this place was.

It took him a second to get his bearings straight, but when he did, he really wasn't sure what to think. In the middle of the strange bed was what looked to be a very small person. Swallowing slightly, Vegeta looked down at the body, coming to the conclusion that this thing was a baby. More specifically, it was his baby.

Never having seen one before, he was slightly put out by its appearance. It looked altogether weak and pathetic, not something he wanted of his offspring. It was practically bald, and if he had wanted to, he could have crushed it in an instant. That was when another thought hit him square in the face. What if this thing…this _infant _wasn't his at all?

Feeling a rising sense of anger starting to accumulate in his gut, Vegeta stared hard at the baby. Saiyans were born with most of their hair on their head and this brat had hardly any at all. And by the looks of it, it wasn't dark in color, another Saiyan trait. And where the hell was its tail? He well remembered the fact that Kakarot's hybrid son had possessed a tail until he had cut it off in a bid for survival when he had first come to Earth. If this child was his, then it too should have a tail. Pulling off the blanket that reeked of his mate's presence, Vegeta growled angrily when he was presented with a tailless bottom.

In an instant, an overwhelming urge to destroy the baby in front of him gripped his consciousness. There was no way that he would support a child that was not his, especially if it had been born of the woman who carried his bond mark on her neck. Such a deed was insupportable and the fact that that slut had the gall to tell him it was his angered him even further. Trying to control his anger, he couldn't believe how easily she had duped him. He should have been able to smell the scent of another man on her had she been sleeping with someone other than himself. Besides, it seemed impossible that Bulma should have been so successful at hiding the affair from him in the beginning. Up until the point when he had left, he had been constantly bombarded by Bulma's stray thoughts. Having a sexual affair with someone else would definitely have fallen into the category of thoughts Bulma would have had an impossible time keeping to herself. Calming down slightly, he decided to check something out for himself. Even though the thought sickened him, there was always the possibility that Bulma had decided to remove their child's tail. Carefully pulling down the infant's diaper slightly, Vegeta scrutinized the child's backside as he looked for the telltale scar that would be evident had the child been born with the tail of a Saiyan.

Leaning down, he let out the breath that he had been holding when he saw the scar on the baby's backside. Feeling foolish and uneasy over the fact that he had been so angry over something so ridiculous, Vegeta covered the weak creature up with its blanket and then backed away. He was…a father. He had no clue how old the brat was, but by the looks of it, it couldn't be much older than a few months. All in all, looking at the baby was making him uncomfortably aware of the finality of his situation with Bulma. No matter that he had thought of leaving her after his fight with Kakarot was finished, staring at the child in front of him changed everything. Even though he hadn't wished for this inconvenience, he had some amount of responsibility towards the brat that lay in front of him. How far he would go with that responsibility, he did not know. But leaving Bulma high and dry to pursue his own ends didn't seem like a possibility anymore, even though if he were honest with himself, that idea had lost some of its appeal months before.

Shaking his head in disgust at how many stupid things he had done since he had decided to stay on Earth temporarily, Vegeta slowly left the room of his child and wandered next door to Bulma's room. Without really thinking of what he was doing, he slid the door open and then entered her private sanctuary.

Letting his eyes adjust to the darkness surrounding him, he saw her curled up on her side, her back facing him as he wandered closer towards her. Stopping before he did something he would inevitably regret, Vegeta watched as Bulma's side rose and fell steadily as she slept soundly in front of him.

Why was he in her room? What was it about her or the bond that they shared that drew him into these sorts of predicaments? Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Frustrated with the lack of answers and his conflicting desires, Vegeta decided it was probably best to retreat from her room before she woke up and things either got heated between the two of them or ugly. He was about to turn around when the phone next to her bed rang loudly. Cursing his enormous amount of bad luck, Vegeta felt himself freeze in place as the phone continued to ring. He was about to let out a sigh of relief when it finally stopped, only to be confronted by a pair of luminous blue eyes staring right at him.

_Well, for all of you fans out there, Vegeta is finally back. What's Bulma going to say to him and will we ever find out what happened to Vegeta while he was stuck in space? And what about Bulma? Will she tell Vegeta how she endured the last month of her pregnancy alone, waiting for him to show up? Find out in the next chapter!_

_And please, review and tell me what you think. Did you like the skip in time? Please read and review! Thanks-Vegamarie_


	31. The Real Chapter 31

_Here it is…Chapter 31! Sorry for the long delay. I know I didn't keep my word very well. I hope you can forgive me. I promise, I'll try to do better with the updating._

_Thanks to __SilverWing145__Bulma and Vegeta fan__, Stella, __Chazie__Fool-4-Fantasy__, Shineko, JulesPop, __HannibalFrost__, Irena, __DragonBall Z maineak__The Al Bhed Princess__, dark kryzta-(kylie), __amja__MissKira__, rayray, __Essence-chan__xoxBra's Unrequited Romance...__bimbosarahsurfchick__, and Paranormal Panda. Thank you for continuing to read this story and for letting me know what you think. I keep on writing it for you.  
_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters._

_Chapter 31_

Stiffening his body slightly, Vegeta waited to see what sort of reaction he was going to get from Bulma, who was currently staring at him as though he had horns growing out of his head. Thankfully, at the moment, her attention was divided away from him because of the telephone she was currently cradling next to her ear. However, he knew from experience that it would be only a matter of time before her conversation would be at an end and the real confrontation between the two of them would begin. Feeling slightly uneasy over the possibility of arguing with her, though he was unsure as to why, Vegeta wanted to curse his cowardice. At the same time, however, he also wanted to leave the room as quickly as he had entered it.

Feeling his feet lay roots into the carpeting of Bulma's room, there was a sense of no escaping her ranting when the time came. Resigning himself to his fate and storing away half formed arguments into the back of his mind, Vegeta watched and waited as Bulma spoke softly into the phone and then finally hung it up. He could sense through their bond that she was experiencing quite a variety of emotions at the moment and of all these, two seemed to stand out the most: relief and anger. He could understand the anger part. At least, he could on a superficial level. But the feelings of relief were something both new and disturbing to him. She actually felt relief that he was home? In a way, such feelings bolstered a strange sense of…happiness that she actually cared about him, though he was by no means particularly deserving of such emotions. On the other hand, those feelings also were like a slap in the face to him. Had she actually thought that he wouldn't have come back alive? After all, before Kakarot had entered the picture, he had been the strongest Saiyan alive. Finally having a sense of righteous indignation start to remove the strange influence Bulma's current mood was having on him, Vegeta started to feel back in control. All he had to do was wait for the Woman to make the first move in the little dance that happened to be their complicated relationship. Fortunately, it wasn't long in coming.

As soon as she hung up the phone, Bulma sat up in bed and tucked her hair behind her ears. Crossing her arms over a pair of bosoms that had seemed to increase in size since he had last seen her in person, Vegeta watched as she leveled a dark glare at him and then uttered her first words to him since his recent return.

"So Vegeta, you're back. And by the sound of it, you sure caused a big ruckus near the East Coast. What _exactly_ did you do to cause such a big stir? So big, in fact, that I get woken up in the middle of the night by some freaked out fisherman who swore he was going to be turned into fish bait because of a strange flying saucer that almost crashed into his boat."

Watching her perturbed expression, Vegeta felt a sense of relief that she wasn't going to start grilling him on what he had been doing since he had been away. Talking about his unfortunate landing was defiantly something he could handle without becoming overly aggressive or angry. Besides, such a topic happened to be neutral territory between the two of them.

"What concern is it of yours about how I managed to land back on this hell hole? If you and your father would have built a better model of that thing you called a ship, I wouldn't have landed in such a…such a memorable way. Any rate, what do I care if I scared a stupid fisherman? He's only human, after all."

Watching Vegeta smirk at her in his usual arrogant, dickheaded way, Bulma let out a squawk of indignation over his insults about both her and her father's engineering ability and the human race. Sitting up straighter, she leveled a retort, surprised at how easily her skills of arguing with Vegeta were coming back to her.

"Only human, huh? Well, let me tell you buddy, if it weren't for the human race, you could have kissed your stars goodbye over the chance of getting away for whatever retarded training you were doing."

"Oh, is that so? Well, for your information, I endured more problems on this little voyage then I ever did on my missions purging for Frieza. If the two of you had worked for him, I wager you would have been blasted to the next dimension for such shoddy workmanship."

Shoving the covers away from her body, Bulma stood up as fast as she could and marched over to Vegeta so she could face him eye to eye. Expelling a snort of air through her flared nostrils, she didn't care if she was feeding all of her irritation and anger into their stupid bond. She wasn't going to put up with his insults. Not any more.

"I don't care if Frieza would have vanquished my father and me to hell. That isn't the point, and you know it. You just want to start a fight with me because you…because it's…"

Realizing where the conversation was heading, Bulma backed off from treading in dangerous waters and took a step back from Vegeta, who had the ability to be extremely intimidating when he chose to be. Just like at the current moment. However, Vegeta was an intelligent man and he knew right away what Bulma was trying to do. And for some stupid reason, he didn't want her to back down and change the argument to something safer. What did he have to be afraid of anyway? His walls were back up and being with her again after so many months apart was….it was exhilarating. Unconsciously stepping in even closer so that his bare toes were touching hers, he pulled her hand into his own and held it, not wanting to have to give chase to his nervous mate if she chose to run away like she seemed to do whenever things became uncomfortable.

Rubbing her hand between his two bare ones, he watched as she ran her tongue over her lips in a nervous gesture that he had started to become familiar with before he had left months before. At the moment, she was completely at his mercy and there was no place left for her to go. Even though visiting her had definitely not been his intention to begin with, he had fallen prey to their bond and their connection just as surely as Bulma was at the same exact moment. He wanted this to happen as much as he didn't want anything to happen. Trying to push away any uneasiness he might be having at the moment, Vegeta placed his ever-familiar smirk across his mouth and watched as Bulma's own facial muscles tensed instantly.

"Vegeta, let go."

"I'm curious Woman. I'll let go of your hand when you finish your sentence. The one about me wanting to start a fight with you. What _was_ it you were going to say?"

Vegeta looked on as Bulma let out an exasperated puff of breath from her nostrils and then loosened up in his tight grip.

"Fine, you want to hear it, so I'll say it. But don't get pissed off at me if it isn't something you're going to want to hear. I could really care less. The way I figure it, after being pretty much abandoned for the last ten months or so gives me the _right_ to piss you off."

Frowning slightly at her acidic tone of voice and her thoughts about having rights to pissing him off, Vegeta languorously released her hand from his grip, making sure to be as provocative as possible before finally backing up a few steps and crossing his arms. Who did she think she was, telling him that she had the right to treat him like she was his better? He was already starting to feel a certain deep-seated sense of anger that only reared its head around Bulma. Clenching his jaw shut, he waited for her to make her statement, wondering if he had made a mistake by provoking her into saying something that he most likely would not enjoy listening to.

Licking her lips again, Bulma pulled her arms around herself and rubbed them absently before continuing, watching as Vegeta face became more intimidating as the seconds ticked by in silence. In all honesty, he was probably the scariest person she had ever known, and part of it stemmed from his unpredictable and sometimes violent temperament. Though he had never physically hurt her before, it didn't help to know that he could burn her to a cinder without moving a muscle if he wanted to. Yet, Bulma thought with irony, she had somehow ended up in a relationship with him. It was funny how things worked out. And now that he was finally back, she was already on a path to certain doom with her Prince. However, there was the fact that for all intents and purposes, she did have the right to make him feel the way she had felt while he had sashayed around space in a broken down spaceship. She was _not_ going to act weak around him.

"Woman, I'm waiting."

Shaking her head slightly to clear it of her thoughts, she let go of her body and stared straight into his dark and swirling gaze.

"I was going to say that the only reason you want to start a stupid fight with me is because it's easier for you to be angry and pretend that you don't care then to admit that you missed me."

Moving backwards slightly, Bulma wasn't surprised by the flash of anger that crossed Vegeta's eyes at being told he had a softer side. However, she _was_ surprised by a sudden sense of guilt and resonance with the statement that she had just uttered as it quickly passed through the space in her mind that she was beginning to associate with her connection to Vegeta. Pretending she hadn't felt anything, she looked off to the side of her room. She had a feeling that flying out in space probably hadn't made Vegeta any more aware of his actual feelings and thoughts concerning her then he had been before he had left. He most likely had spent the entire time training and building defenses against the thing that most unsettled him: the fact that he was capable of feeling more then just hate, pride, loathing and anger. Sometimes, he was such a stupid man.

"So you think I'm stupid _and _a pussy."

Looking slightly startled, Bulma raised her hands in defense.

"I never said you were any such thing."

Vegeta let out a sour chuckle and put his hands on his hips, shaking his head wryly at her apparent lack of thought about the way their bond worked and the fact that she still did not have a handle on it.

"Bulma, you don't have to say anything. It's a good thing I've been learning more control over things, because by the looks of it, you still haven't made any progress in regards to thought control."

"Well, excuse me your highness when I tell you that I had more important things to worry about then keeping my thoughts in my head. I mean, it wasn't like you were actually around for the last ten months anyway. So why waste the energy doing something I don't have any talent for? At any rate, I don't think you're a pussy, if that means something to you. But you aren't very smart when it comes to certain things."

"Whatever. Intelligence is not a requirement when it comes to the analysis and control of emotions. And those beings out there that think there is merit in having them are more stupid then those that are in control of their own minds."

"Fine. Think what you want. This is a stupid conversation, one that neither of us is ever going to agree on. I don't know why you came into my room, but you can leave at any time. I'm going back to bed."

Without another word, which surprised Vegeta, Bulma turned around and walked back to the bed she had recently exited. Pulling back the already exposed sheets, she settled in and turned her back to her mate, as though his very presence meant nothing to her. That, on top of everything she had said, irked him the most. Clenching his fists tightly, he took an unconscious step forward as he raked his brains for something else to say.

"Vegeta."

Focusing his attention onto her partially revealed back, he growled under his breath at the audacity of this particular human female's rudeness towards him. He hadn't come here to play games with her, but his real reason didn't make him feel anymore comfortable with himself or his situation. She was, after all, somewhat correct in her assumptions for his wanting to argue with her. Bah, he was already acting like a baboon, and the sad fact that he had only been back on Earth for a few hours wasn't making his current level of frustration any better. Letting out an angry snort, he grunted an acknowledgement.

"You can leave. I'm sure you know where your old room is. Unless that head injury you had left you with some permanent brain damage."

"What about the child?"

Moving over so that she was facing him again, Bulma rolled her eyes at him and then propped herself up on her elbow.

"What about him? He's next door, in case you were wondering. Check him out if you want to. He's not leaving anytime soon. Besides, I'm surprised you even care, considering you made it pretty clear how important your family is to you by running off into space and not bothering to come back in time for his birth."

Audibly growling, Vegeta felt frustrated both by her ignorant assumptions and her attempts at pulling a guilt trip over him. Even if he did feel slightly guilty for leaving her, he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of having any power over him.

"Woman, don't make assumptions that only lend to making you out as an overly sentimental idiot. For all that you think you know my reasons, you don't have a clue."

He glanced over at her form as she pushed herself further upright, her face taught with the first signs of anger towards him.

"I know you left because of this stupid bond and the need for training. But how much time did you waste in space? From the few times you bothered to communicate with me at all, you didn't seem to be having any luck in the training department. You could have come back in time for your son's birth to get the repairs you needed and then you could have been off again. But no, you're too proud to ever back down, even for something as important as welcoming your first child. So I believe that I have the right to think what I want about your reasons, especially since you can't ever give me a straight answer about anything."

With another challenge in the air, Vegeta decided it was time to call a retreat. He was, after all, on enemy soil, and the gauntlet that Bulma had laid down did not resonate well with the fact that he felt his control starting to slip. In other words, he needed to get away for the moment. Pivoting on his heal, he quickly made his way to the doorway that was beckoning towards him. He didn't need to put up with Bulma or her stupid (yet somewhat true) opinions. Reaching the doorway, he was about to press the button so he could exit when Bulma's voice floated across the room towards him. Stiffening his shoulders, he let out a terse grunt.

"What now, Woman?"

"Are you going to see your son?"

"I thought you didn't think I would _care_ enough to make such a gesture." Standing stiffly, he heard Bulma yawn slightly and then let out a tired sigh.

"I guess I don't really know what I think about you. You have to be the most confusing person I know, even after having lived with you for the last three years or so. I'm just saying, if you're curious, he's next door and he's asleep. Just be careful not to wake him up if you do visit him."

Looking over his shoulder, he watched as she reclined back into her pillows and pulled the covers up to her chin before deciding to answer.

"I've already seen him." Thinking about the appearance of his progeny also brought back the feelings of revulsion over the fact that his child no longer possessed a Saiyan tail and looked more human then he should have. "And why, pray tell, did you cut off his tail? Had I not had the foresight to check things out, I very well might have killed him thinking he wasn't my child to begin with."

That got Bulma's attention. Faster then he thought was possible, she was sitting up again, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. He could feel her very palatable fear and concern. Leveling a nasty smirk at her, he turned forward and took another step towards the door, which he still needed to open.

"Hold it Vegeta. I can't believe you almost killed your own son! And _how_ could you possibly _think_ that he was any other child but yours?"

"Don't be pretend to be so stupid. Number one: that brat does not look like a Saiyan child. Number two: he has no tail. And number three: you've had previous lovers before me. Perhaps you were engaging is some sort of illicit activity during the time I was here on Earth."

Wanting to feel a sense of power over his mate to help with his own uneasiness over his slipping control, Vegeta added a final punch to his litany.

"Once a slut, always a slut."

Leveling a twisted smile towards her, his evil look fell slightly when he did not get the reaction he was aiming for. Either he truly was losing his knack for wearing down his enemies and controlling his subordinates through well-aimed verbal barbs, or Bulma was really starting to understand his underlying motives better then he did himself. He observed her as she squared her shoulders forward and calmly put her hands to her sides.

"I'm not going to defend myself from that comment. You know as well as I do that there have been no other men in my bed since the time you and I ended up screwing each other and you also know that there will be no others, even if you decide to leave me again. I've come to a lot of realizations about how things stand between us Vegeta, and no matter what you say, even if it does hurt, I know you're only doing it to make yourself feel better. You're just a bully who likes to be in control and when things don't go you're way, you try to belittle those who aren't swayed by your nasty attitude. You're also lonely, confused, and miserable sitting in your own little world."

"Are you finished yet?"

"No. I know you've told me that you don't want my pity, but I wish you'd get it through your fat head that it sucks to be all alone with nothing but thoughts of revenge. How can you live a life like that? And how can you throw out the concern and caring other people have towards you like it's nothing but garbage? I just hope you figure out that you could have a good life here if you got your priorities straight. But I know that won't happen until you finally fall on your ass and somebody knocks you upside the head."

"I'm quite aware of your sentiments. Now it's your turn to understand something: I don't give a damn. My life and my motives have nothing to do with you and this so-called family is nothing more than an inconvenience. I'll do my duty to the brat, but I will not back down from my goals to defeat the Androids and destroy Kakarot once and for all."

Scratching her left arm absently, Bulma tightened her lips in obvious disapproval over Vegeta's stubbornness and selfishness.

"I give up Vegeta. You are never going to understand the importance of relationships, so I'm not even going to try. What's the point? For what it's worth, I'm glad you're back, even if you aren't. And it does mean something to me that you are going to do your duty towards your son. You can have your old room back and I'll start working on building a new and improved GR for you to train in until you can reach Super Saiyan tomorrow."

With that said, Bulma lay back down in her bed, disappointment lodged deep within her heart that he hadn't changed at all since he had been all alone in space. Who was she kidding, though? She couldn't move mountains and having Vegeta shift his opinions was more difficult then even that insurmountable task.

Lying back in her pillows, she felt her eyes start to drift shut when Vegeta's voice cut through her semi-conscious state.

"Bulma? Does the brat have a name?"

Why did he care about that? A name was only a name, after all. It certainly didn't make a person powerful or great. Still, she couldn't just ignore him, especially since he did have a right to know, no matter how much of an ass he still was.

"His name is Trunks Briefs." She had a sudden premonition that Vegeta was not going to be pleased with that name. As soon as the words left her mouth, she could once again sense through their bond an enveloping feeling of anger before it was cut off.

"What kind of fucking name is that? He is a Saiyan Prince!"

"Really? Huh, that's funny coming from you. After all, not even five minutes ago, you were telling me how you thought he wasn't yours. And leaving me for over half of my pregnancy certainly didn't make me have confidence that you were going to actually accept him as your son."

"Gods above Woman, I told you I was coming back. I didn't want the brat in the first place, but he is mine and therefore, he is a Prince of the Saiyan race. We have a long line of tradition dating back several millennia on Vegeta-sei which specifically states that the heir to the throne carries the name of Vegeta."

Opening her eyes, Bulma glared at Vegeta. At the moment, she wanted to tear out his hair. How could he be so nasty and negative, and then get all bent out of shape over the name of the child he hadn't even met until less than an hour ago? What right did he have? He was so frustrating!

"Look your Eminence, you weren't here, so I named him after a tradition that's been in my family for the last couple of generations. He's named after his grandfather and just so you know, your name happens to be his middle name. You weren't here, so you didn't get a say. That's how it works, and I am _not_ changing it because it pisses you off. I went through a lot of pain and discomfort to bring your _brat_ into the world, so deal with it."

"Whatever."

With that said, she watched as Vegeta angrily pushed the button to open up her door and stormed out into the hallway. Letting out another sigh, she sniffed slightly, trying to gain an upper hand over her feelings, lest she anger her mate even more.

He was back, but nothing had apparently changed, and if anything, things were that much worse because he still didn't care. He was never going to care and there was nothing she could do to change his mind. What did it matter anyway, when it all boiled down? She was going to stick to her resolve to not welcome him back and his attitude was going to make it that much easier to not bend or break. It was time to finally break her emotional and sentimental attachments to the man who had fathered her child. She would help him finish reaching his goals and that would be it. Closing her eyes, she let her mind drift as she finally fell asleep.

_Vegeta and Bulma are frustrated…so what's new in that regard? How will they ever mount their differences to finally become the couple that we all love and adore? Find out in the next chapter! And please, read and review!_


	32. Chapter 32

_Hey everyone. Sorry again about the more or less delayed update. I've started a new job for the summer and I'm putting in a ton of hours. My summer is going to totally stink, but as a poor grad student, I need money…wire me some through Western Union (J/K)! Thanks again for all of the reviews! Please keep them coming!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of its characters. They belong to Toriyama Akira._

_A/N number two: I have only just started watching the Cell games for the first time. I don't know if Vegeta was still using the Capsule ship for the GR or not, since in my story, he just destroyed in when he landed. So I'm going to have Bulma and Dr. Briefs build a new Capsule ship GR. I know later in the series, Veggie gets his GR inside of Capsule Corporation, but I don't want to mess things up too badly. Hope this is correct. Also, there is some pretty graphic language in part of the story, just as a heads up. Nothing lemony though, sorry to disappoint. _

_Chapter 32_

_A few days after Vegeta's return…_

Bulma found herself sitting in the lab on the ground, sorting through the rubble that was left of the ship Vegeta had used for his training in space. It was a horrible, boring and utterly frustrating task and her temper was really beginning to wear thin. Why did she always seem to get herself into these stupid situations with Vegeta every single time that he wanted or needed something? It was always give, give, and give on her part and take, take, take on his. However, she really couldn't blame Vegeta for her current predicament except for the fact that the dickhead had completely obliterated the last remaining Capsule ship her father had built when Goku had taken off for Namek almost four years ago. Or was it five? Hell, she couldn't really remember, so many things having taken place in the intervening time. Anyway, she couldn't blame Vegeta because she had been the one to tell him after he returned that she would build him a new one. Stupid, stupid, _stupid!_

Letting out a grunt of frustration, Bulma threw down the piece of scrap she was holding onto towards the growing pile of useless junk of what was left from the ship. She watched as it hit a large piece of what had once been the outside hull, denting the material and making a large screeching noise that hurt her ears. Swearing, Bulma kicked another piece of metal that was lying apart from the pile and then turned around, almost running over her father in the process.

"Careful Bulma! Although you can't do much more damage to the ship then there already is, you might break something we can reuse for the new ship and gravity simulator. The less we have to build from scratch, the quicker we'll be done and then we won't have Vegeta breathing down our necks."

Well, she had to agree with her father on that point, but it felt good to kick things once in a while when she found herself in an angry mood. Pushing back a piece of her hair behind her ear, she crossed her arms underneath her breasts and let out a long sigh.

"Dad, I need a break. I haven't seen Trunks all morning and if I have to sort through any more scrap, I think I'm going to explode."

Her father had already moved off and was busy looking at the 'salvageable' parts that Bulma and a few other technicians had laid out onto a table. She shook her head when she heard him muttering about a stupid cappuccino machine that somehow had managed to miraculously survive the crash. She had a feeling he was already in his own world that revolved around improving the technology he had invented during his lifetime and her leaving the area wasn't going to cause him much concern. Besides, there were already three other highly trained technicians working on the salvage project and she needed to get away, at least for a little while.

Stretching her arms over her head and letting out a yawn, Bulma exited the hanger door and blinked as the bright sunshine streamed into her eyes. It was mid winter and there was a small amount of snow on the ground, dusting some of the bushes around the property and making her footsteps crunch as she made her way over to her home. Usually the weather around West City was mild all year round, but this year, it had been colder then normal. Last week, they had actually had a blizzard but most of the snow had already melted, leaving the little that remained. Shivering slightly, Bulma quickly ran across the lawn and opened the main doorway into the house. Rubbing her arms to get rid of the chill, she heard her mother's unmistakable voice coming from the living room.

"Gootchie, gootchie goo! Goo-goo. Peek-a-boo! Aww Trunks, you're going to be as handsome as that father of yours someday. Yes! Yes you are!"

Rolling her eyes, she had to chuckle to herself since she often talked to her baby exactly like her mother did. She had a sudden thought of what Vegeta would do should he walk into either of them talking to his son like that. He probably would have a shit fit, but since he wasn't really making any effort to get to know his son anyway he wouldn't have any right to complain. At least that's how Bulma looked at it. Vegeta though, would probably have a completely different take on the situation just because he was the kind of self-serving, boorish creep who always looked at things from his viewpoint and his alone.

Trying to shake off her negativity, Bulma rounded the corner into the living room and waved at her mother before she found herself being attacked by a little white terror on four legs.

"Muffin, get down! Go find Vegeta and bug him. I'd sure he'd just _love_ your company."

Walking over to the couch, Bulma flopped herself down, moving over to let her dog join her, pretty much negating what she had just said. She was starting to feel a little sorry for her dog since he wasn't getting the attention he used to get before Trunks had been born. Petting his fur and feeling herself start to relax for the first time all day, Bulma yawned and then rolled her head in the direction of where her mother was sitting on the floor next to her baby who was laying on his tummy across a blanket.

"Hey Mom, how's Trunks doing?"

"Well look at him sweetie! He's being such a good boy today!"

Smiling, she watched as her mom shook a rattle at Trunks, who tried to grab it with his chubby fist and missed miserably. He really was a happy baby, not at all like his father. But then again, Bulma often had the feeling that Vegeta's moodiness and inability to express himself stemmed from what he himself had learned as a child. She didn't think people who had difficulty relating to others got that way on their own or were born that way. Even if some of his crankiness came from his Saiyan heritage, it didn't explain how Goku had ended up so differently. Besides, she knew from her bonding experience with Vegeta that he had gone through some very horrible and disturbing things during his lifetime. However, instead of trying to work through his issues, he bottled up everything inside and that's why he had left to go train in space. Because had he stayed any longer, he would have had a meltdown, and that would have been very bad. Still, it didn't make Bulma any less upset that he had stayed away from her for over ten months. And now that he was back, she hadn't seen him except for when he came inside to eat or get new training gear. She didn't even think he was sleeping in the house.

"Bulma, what are you thinking about?"

"Huh?" Bulma shook herself out of her thoughts. "Nothing Mom. Mostly just about how much of a pain it is trying to salvage parts from Vegeta's ship. He really did a number on it when he landed. Besides that, I think he damaged it when he was out in space all those months ago. I already knew the gravity simulator was shot, but Dad and I aren't having much luck finding things we can re-use when we build the new ship. At least Vegeta hasn't been bothering us about it though."

"Oh."

Sitting up slightly on the couch, Bulma slid out of it and settled down next to her baby. Smiling at him, she watched as he rolled himself over onto his back and then kicked his legs around. Running a finger along the smooth skin of his cheek, she kissed his forehead and smiled. Just looking at her son improved her mood. If she didn't have a stupid gravity room to build, she could have spent the entire day with him; playing with him, cuddling him, and loving him the way her own parents had mostly likely loved her when she was a baby. She was about to pick him up when she heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get the door Mom. You can stay in here with Trunks."

Standing up, Bulma brushed her work pants off and then headed towards the main entrance. Opening the door, she rolled her eyes over who was standing in front of her.

"Hey Bulma! Mind if I come in?"

Shrugging her shoulders, she motioned for him to follow her. Walking back into the living room, she sat back down on the floor and watched out of the corner of her eye as he plopped down on the couch in the exact spot she had been sitting before deciding to play with her baby. Muffin, who was still sitting on the couch took one look at their guest and jumped off the couch, running out of the room to wherever it was he went when he went off on his own.

"Oh, Yamcha! How lovely to see you! It's been a while, hasn't it? I'll go in the kitchen and make up a tray of cookies and cakes while you two catch up with one another."

With that, Mrs. Briefs quickly stood up and then danced her way out of the living room towards the kitchen.

"What's _she_ talking about? I'm telling you Bulma; sometimes I think your mom really does having something wrong with her head. I mean, it's only been like a week since I've been here."

Shrugging her shoulders, Bulma just sighed and then bent over to play with Trunks's toes.

"She's smarter than she looks Yamcha. It's just her overly bubbly personality, that's all. Anyway, you never have anything bad to say when she feeds your face with her chocolate goodies."

She heard Yamcha chuckle and watched as he ran his fingers through his cropped hair nervously. Letting out another sigh, Bulma almost wished he wasn't there at all. She hadn't planned on using her break to entertain her ex, but she didn't have the heart to tell him to leave. Besides, she had to admit that as an ex-boyfriend, once she had finally found it in her heart to forgive him, he'd been much more attentive then he had been the last few years they had been dating. Part of this, she knew, came from the fact that he was still trying to get her back for whatever reason. But during the last few months of her hellish pregnancy, he had been the only one besides her mother and father who she could lean on for help. Goku had only visited her the one time after he had spoken to Yamcha. Since then, she hadn't seen him at all, probably because he was too busy with his own training to worry about a pregnant, lonely female. Turning back to Yamcha, she gave him a little smile before asking him why he was visiting.

"So Yamcha, what brings you around this time?"

"What, I have to have a reason to visit my favorite girl and her kid?"

"Look Yamcha, I don't think it's probably a good idea for you to be coming around here so much. Besides, don't you have training you should be doing for the Androids or something?"

Swallowing a small amount of guilt, she saw the hurt expression that flitted across his face before he hid it in a displeased mask. The truth was, she had a feeling if Vegeta found out that she had been visiting with her ex, it wouldn't go over well at all for either parties involved. For one thing, she had a very good idea that Vegeta would look at Yamcha's presence as an outright slap in the face concerning their bond. For another, she knew that Yamcha would mostly likely try to foolishly get in a fight with Vegeta over his leaving her when she was pregnant. In either case, it made her uneasy because she knew the end result would be a fight between the two of them and it wouldn't be pretty when the time came. Still, as far as she was concerned, Vegeta had no say over whom she chose to spend her time with. And even though it was nice to think that Yamcha would stick up for her supposed 'honor,' she didn't need or want him to be sticking his nose into her and Vegeta's personal business.

"Bulma, how can you act like that towards me? I'm just trying to be your friend."

"Yamcha, I know you're trying to be my friend, and I appreciate it, but I also know you have ulterior motives for your actions. I don't want you to get hurt, don't you see that? I can't be with you in that respect."

"Yeah, you can't be with me, but you can stick by that ass Vegeta. He isn't even back yet. What makes you think he's going to come back? Hell, if I got a girl pregnant and I wasn't married to her, I don't think I'd stick around either. It costs money to have a kid. Money and time. Since when has Vegeta ever done anything that doesn't have to do with his own selfishness? Get it into your head Bulma. He's not coming back."

Huh, if Yamcha even knew the truth, he probably wouldn't have opened his mouth. But the words were out and there was no taking them back. All it did was fuel Bulma's anger. Anger because he was wrong and also because he was right. Vegeta was a jerk through and through and yet, she couldn't leave him. All she could do was ignore him and act like they were nothing. It really, _really_ sucked more than anything else in her life ever had up until this point. Fisting her hands in her lap, she glared at him before giving him an earful.

"How do you know that Yamcha? You haven't even given him a chance. You and everyone else, except for Goku, think that Vegeta's this giant scumbag. Well, he can be a jerk and an asshole, but haven't you ever thought that maybe there are reasons for the way that he is? He's going to help you guys fight the Androids and he's trying, in his own way, to make sure he's strong enough to face them and beat them. If what that kid from the future said was true, you guys are going to need all the help you can get. So stop making jealous assumptions and get over your own inferiority complex."

"That's not fair babe and you know it. You know, for whatever funny reason Bulma, I think you're the one that's just plain blind. Maybe the guy has reasons behind why he's such a ruthless bastard, but that doesn't make it okay for him to treat you like dirt. And for some reason, I just don't get why you're so willing to stick with such a…such a prick when you wouldn't even give me the time of day after you broke it off with me. I never got you pregnant and _I_ never left you."

Deciding that this conversation was getting out of hand, Bulma stood up and picked up Trunks in the process. Walking around Yamcha's long legs, she started to head into the hallway. She only got a few steps when she heard Yamcha following her.

"Bulma, don't be such a coward. Running away from this conversation isn't going to make things better and you know it."

Ignoring him, she made it to the kitchen and sat Trunks down in his high chair. Looking at where her mother was still trying to make up a tray of cakes for their guest, she spoke over her shoulder as she exited through the kitchen door.

"Hey Mom, watch Trunks, will you? I've got to get back to work."

"Bulma, where's Yamcha? He didn't leave already, did he? All my hard work."

Pausing in the doorway, Bulma turned around slightly and tried to smile brightly at her mother so that she wouldn't realize how angry she actually was at the moment.

"Look Mom, don't worry about it. Vegeta will probably eat all that stuff and more when he shows up to fill that bottomless pit of his. Yamcha and I have a little discussion to finish and then he's leaving."

With that said, she closed the door behind her and made her way across to the front of the house where Yamcha was standing, shivering in the cold.

"Come on Bulma, be reasonable here. Can't we just call a truce and go back inside? It's freezing out here."

"Don't be such a baby. Use your ki to keep yourself warm, you big idiot. And no, we are not going back inside. I have work to do and you need to leave before I blow a gasket. How dare you come to my house and talk to me like that? It wasn't my intention for us to get into a fight Yamcha, but sometimes, you don't know when enough is enough."

Bulma watched Yamcha's eyes flash in anger as he took a step in closer to where she was standing.

"I'm not the one who's blinded by some muscle bound alien who probably gave you a good fuck. Is that why you won't leave him even though he's not coming back? Because he can screw you until you scream? Because you like the way he feels inside of you? Well, I've got news for you. If all you really want is to be fucked, I can give you that any time you want. You don't need some short, egotistical fucking Saiyan for your whorish fantasies Bulma."

Bulma's eyes widened in shock. Never, not in the entire time that she had been with and known Yamcha, had he ever talked to her like that and it made her uncomfortable. Backing up nervously from him, Bulma accidentally slipped on a patch of ice and found herself falling when she was suddenly yanked forward into Yamcha's arms. Struggling slightly against him, she freed one of her arms from his grip and slapped him hard across the face, leaving a smarting red imprint of her hand. Stumbling backwards, she glared openly at him.

"How dare you Yamcha? I thought you said you were trying to be my friend. Friends don't say things like that to one another. I…am…not …a …WHORE! I'm tired of everybody telling me that I am one. I won't be used by you and I won't be used by…"

Clicking her mouth shut, she watched as Yamcha's eyes narrowed slightly while he rubbed his tender cheek with his left hand.

"You won't be used by Vegeta? Why don't you just finish your sentence? I'm not taking back what I said Bulma. You just can't see it, that's all. I wouldn't treat you like that. I wouldn't leave you."

Rubbing her arms, Bulma let out a tired sigh. She was so angry at the moment, she felt like her insides were going to burst.

"Just leave Yamcha. Just take yourself and leave. And don't come back until you apologize." Turning around, she started to make her way back towards the hanger where the remains of Vegeta's spaceship were calling her name. She only walked a few feet when she felt something or someone snag her arm for a second time. Whirling around, she found herself back in Yamcha's arms, looking into his eyes which were burning with some sort of feverish intensity.

"Bulma, give me another chance. I…I love you."

She couldn't say anything. She couldn't move. She felt herself being constricted by Yamcha's arms, watching as his mouth started to lower towards hers as though it were in slow motion. A sick feeling started to spread through her gut. No matter that she had kissed Yamcha probably thousands of times, she didn't want this with him. It was wrong. Panicking, she tried to squirm out of his grip, but he was too strong for her. She started screaming in her head for him to stop, but he wasn't going to. Squeezing her eyes shut, she felt his dry lips press against hers and then her mind suddenly surged with awareness as rage like she had never felt before in her entire life rushed through her body.

In an instant, she found herself falling to the ground for a second time as Yamcha was ripped from her body. Landing hard against the frozen ground, she could feel the air leave her body in a whoosh as the wind was knocked out of her. Taking a gasping breath, she pushed herself upright, focusing her eyes on a pair of white booted feet standing directly in front of her. Blinking slowly, she watched in shock as Vegeta lifted Yamcha by his shirt so that his feet were dangling in the air.

"You must really wish to die. Is that it? Didn't get your fill of the next dimension the first time that Saibaman sent you there?" Vegeta hissed out maliciously as he hiked Yamcha higher into the air by his shirt collar. "Well, human, since you seem to be missing it so much, why don't I give you a free ticket there. It would be my pleasure."

With that said, Vegeta threw Yamcha roughly against the ground and then kicked him in the ribs, sending him flying about a foot in the air before he landed awkwardly on his back in a bank of snow. Ignoring the shrieking screams of his mate, he leapt towards Yamcha as soon as he hit the ground and tried to stand up, fazing out of sight and reappearing directly behind Yamcha so quickly that Yamcha couldn't track him. Grabbing him by the shirt once more, Vegeta balled his hand into a fist and slammed it into Yamcha's jaw, hearing with satisfaction a sickening crunch as the bone gave way to the force of the blow. Relaxing his grip slightly, he heard the weakling scream as some of his teeth flew out of his mouth and blood started to seep down his chin. Pulling him up further, he pulled back his fist and thrust it into his soft stomach muscles, punching him over and over again as he listened to his grunts and then agonized screams.

Throwing him to the ground, he started to kick him, aiming well placed blows to the area where his ribs had been broken from the kick he had administered that had sent him flying into the snow. He wanted Yamcha to suffer, to feel excruciating pain before he sent him to hell. He had never felt such a rage before. Seeing his mate being touched…being kissed by a cowardly human only days after he had gotten back made something inside of him snap. He felt…betrayed. And both of them were going to pay for it.

Putting a stop to his kicking, Vegeta knelt down so he could look into Yamcha's beaten and bloody face. Slapping him lightly, he watched as the fighter's eyes fluttered open slightly and then latched onto his own hate-filled face in fear. Feeling satisfaction that the idiot knew he was about to die for a second time, Vegeta let out a harsh bark of laughter before contorting his face into a mask of barely concealed fury.

"You made a fatal mistake when you touched what belongs to me, pussy bandit. But don't worry, I'll try to make your last final moments on this planet at least somewhat…painless. I'm at least that merciful."

Standing back up, he extended his arm towards Yamcha with his palm facing forward. He watched as the pitiful excuse for a warrior tried to get up and move away, tried to open his beaten mouth to let out whatever excuses he could come up with in order to escape his wrath. Too bad for him that Vegeta was not the type to listen to excuses. Powering up a ki ball in his hands, his malicious smirk widened until he heard something from behind him.

"Stop it Vegeta. Just stop it!"

Turning around, he snarled at Bulma, the anger blazing on both his face and through the bond that they shared with one another, not concealing from her the full force of his fury.

"Do not presume to tell me what to do! He has…he has dared to make a mockery of me by touching you and you…you let him!" Vegeta howled out at her. "He must pay for that. He _must!_"

"Don't you see that he already is? What good is killing him going to do? He didn't know you were back. It was a mistake."

That was the wrong thing to say to an already enraged Saiyan whose bond, in his eyes, had just been threatened. Kicking Yamcha for good measure, Vegeta turned on Bulma, his eyes snapping as ki crackled randomly around his body.

"He didn't know I was back? It was a…a _mistake_? Female, if you think what you just uttered off of your honeyed tongue is going to save him, you are sadly mistaken. How long have you and that…that bastard been playing me for a fool? _HOW LONG?"_

Backing away from Vegeta, Bulma didn't know what to do. She had seen Vegeta angry before, but never like this and never towards herself. She was suddenly very afraid.

"I swear Vegeta, there is nothing between Yamcha and me. I swear it! I didn't want him to kiss me. We were fighting. I was trying to get him to leave. You have to believe me. I wouldn't…I wouldn't do something like that!"

"You wouldn't? I wonder. Did you not tell me that you weren't going to…welcome me back into your bed? Perhaps it is because while I was gone, you welcomed that pussy back instead. I'm not an idiot Bulma. Besides, you are my mate. You do not get to decide when and if we will have sexual intimacies. That is not how it works between Saiyans."

Taking a step closer to Bulma, he lunged at her and grabbed her around the waist, forcefully pulling her body upwards, throwing her over his shoulder. Walking over to Yamcha, who was still lying on the ground, groaning in pain, he ignored Bulma as she started to struggle against him. Leaning over the man, he glared straight into his eyes, watching in satisfaction as the baka convulsed in fear.

"For presuming to so much as to touch her, you deserve to die. But I am a reasonable man and I don't want your little Z friends showing up here to try and avenge your pitiful hide. Besides, you might come in handy as bait when the time comes to fight the Androids. But if I ever catch you so much as a kilometer from here, you will die. Understood?"

With that said, Vegeta turned away from warrior who was bleeding into the ground. Walking back towards the house, his anger at the situation started to fester within him, aggravated even more by Bulma's wriggling movements as she tried to pull away from him. Stopping inside the house, he dialed up the emergency number on one of the communication links, knowing that somebody would come and clean up the mess he had just made with Yamcha. With that done, he bounded angrily up the stairs to his own room, opening the door and blasting the control panel so that Bulma would not be able to escape. There was only one way to find out if she was telling the truth, and he would not have this incident hang over him. Tossing her onto his bed, he watched in angry amusement as she tried to push herself off of it and make a beeline for the door.

"You can't escape Woman, so don't even try. It is amusing how often we seem to end up in this very situation, is it not?" With that said, he leapt towards her and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her back down onto the bed. Ignoring her kicks, he laughed as he pushed himself over her body, straddling her hips with his legs, effectively pinning her underneath him. If he wasn't so angry, he might have found time to indulge his primal instincts. Perhaps he would, thinking he could use it as a form of punishment, even though such a thought made him feel sick to his stomach. But, she deserved to suffer if she had indeed violated their bond. According to Saiyan law, such an infraction meant death.

"Vegeta, don't do this. You're not like this." Bulma whimpered out.

"Shut up! Do not presume to tell me what I am like! You have no right to speak to me, not until your innocence or guilt is proven in this situation."

Putting his hands on either side of Bulma's head, he closed his eyes and then did something he hadn't done since the first night they had bonded. He opened the gates that connected both her mind and his, forcing his way inside to discover whether or not what he had seen outside was something that had been going on the entire time he had been gone training in space.

It was like watching one of those things humans called 'movies.' He probed her consciousness until he found the moment when he had left, feeling her pain and betrayal over his abandonment. He saw her belly grow over the months that he was gone. He saw her crying alone in her bed at night. He saw her working, he saw her buying things for his son. He watched as she was laid up in bed because of her condition. He looked on as she struggled to give birth. He watched and watched and watched. He looked on as she discovered the notes she had written to him in the drawer of his dresser. He watched as the idiot Kakarot showed up to talk with her after he had left. He saw her screaming at the moron Yamcha to leave her house. He watched everything until he felt like he was going to throw up, the connection between them becoming so strong that a migraine was starting to push its way behind his forehead. Letting go of her head, he fell backwards onto the bed, breathing heavily from the intensity of the experience of actually being inside of Bulma's mind.

Laying his head back, he sifted quickly through everything that he had witnessed. The furious rage he had felt moments before suddenly lost its intensity, leaving Vegeta feeling hollow and foolish for over-reacting. Perhaps he should have listened to her. He didn't feel guilty for hurting Yamcha. The baka had deserved to be met with such a punishment. It was his right as Bulma's mate to obliterate any possible rivals and the idiot had obviously still not gotten it into his head that Bulma was no longer an available female. But…his woman. Why had he become so angry? The entire time he was in space he had kept telling himself that he didn't care about her. Or he had tried to at any rate, but it was all a deception that he had kept trying to pull over his own eyes. The truth was, seeing her in that…that kiss, it had made him feel such an overwhelming sense of jealousy, it was easier to blame her for infidelity than for him to admit to the fact that her actions meant something to him. That what she did affected him in a personal and altogether uncomfortable way. Swallowing, he pushed himself upright and then looked over at Bulma, who was lying on her side trying to hide the fact that she was crying into the sheets of his bed.

"Sit up Woman."

He watched her, noting the fact that she was ignoring him. Trying to stifle his guilt, he grabbed her arm and pushed her up so that she was leaning against the headboard of his bed.

"I said sit up!" Taking his hands, he pushed her tear stained face towards his own so that he could look into her eyes.

"God Vegeta, just kill me and get it over with. I can't…I can't live like this."

Swallowing slightly, he pushed away from her and then looked off to the side.

"I…Woman…I over reacted. That bastard deserved what he got for laying his filthy hands on you but I should not have dealt with you in such a manner."

Looking over towards her, he could see surprise and confusion in her blue eyes. He wasn't good with words and in the past, he had never made it a point to apologize to anyone, even when his actions had been wrong. But seeing such a look of surprise in the eyes of the person who was for all intents and purposes, the closest to him, it made him feel ashamed of himself. Feelings of shame though, did not bode well with Vegeta. Feeling frustrated, he pushed himself off of the bed and stood up, crossing his arms as he glared at her.

"Bah, why do I even bother to lower myself? Don't ever let me catch you with him again, understood?"

Turning around sharply, he blasted yet another hole through his door and stalked angrily down the stairs towards the kitchen, trying to ignore the guilt that was pushing up inside of him. Opening the kitchen door, he saw a tray of some kind of sweet concoction sitting abandoned on the counter. Grabbing some of the food, he opened the outside door and blasted off into the sky.

Flying high into the sky, Vegeta's mind kept wandering back to everything he had seen about his mate. There was no doubt that she had suffered while he had been gone. Part of it, he could tell, had been from the difficulty of caring a half-Saiyan brat in her womb. But the other part was what made him uneasy. Actually being inside her mind, she hadn't been able to hide anything from him, including her emotions. What he had discovered was the fact that Bulma…that Bulma loved him. He wanted to laugh at her for being such a fool. But he also wanted to relish in the feeling that he was wanted, no matter how much of an ass he was to her. And that's what made him feel the guilt. He would not return that feeling towards her. He could not allow himself to feel any sort of attachment, although it was too late for that judging by his earlier actions. To have such a feeling was an open liability. In five months or so, the Androids were going to be here. He could not afford to let Bulma and their bond affect his emotions because if his enemies found out, they could use such feelings against him.

Grunting angrily over the whole damned situation, Vegeta pushed a piece of the cake he had stolen into his mouth as he flew higher into the sky. Bulma was miserable because of her feelings for him and he himself was so unsure about everything, even after being gone for so many months away from her, he wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't avoid her forever, especially after today. But he wasn't going to allow her to dictate to him how their relationship would be either. She was his. They were bonded, and it was becoming more and more evident to Vegeta that he would never be able to escape from the inevitability of it, just as today had also proved.

Deciding that he couldn't do anything about the situation, he veered off towards the mountains where he had been training since he had gotten back. He'd lay low for a couple of days or maybe a week, and then he'd come back to Capsule Corporation, explain to Bulma how things would be between them and them and they would move on with their lives. They couldn't hide from themselves and just as Bulma had pointed out, it was pointless to continue on how they had been going at it. Even Vegeta could feel the tug of the stupid bond between the two of them. He couldn't resist it. But he would be damned if he let what he had done with Bulma ruin his life and his destiny. He was destined to kill Kakarot and prove once and for all that he was the strongest in the Galaxy and no bond or family was going to stop him from achieving his goal.

_So, what will Vegeta's rules be for Bulma and how will Bulma react? How will this affect the upcoming battle with the Androids? Find out in the next chapter! And please review!_


	33. Chapter 33

_Hello once again. Yes, I finally updated after three months. I did not forget about this story and I do plan on completing it. But updates will continue to be slow in coming, as I have started student teaching and within the next couple of months will be job searching as I graduate soon. Again, thanks to all of you who continue to read, review and support this monster. I appreciate it._

_Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters._

_Chapter 33_

"Bulma, let's stop here and get a coffee. I haven't had my caffeine fix for the day."

Letting out a sigh, Bulma watched as her mother entered the small coffee café across from the store they had just left. Pushing Trunks's stroller forward through the oncoming traffic of people out for a Saturday of buying unnecessary consumer goods just as she and her mother were indulging in, she entered the small shop and maneuvered her way towards the table where her mother was settling all of her bags of merchandise. Sitting down, she pulled the stroller as close to her chair as she could and leaned over to check on her son.

"Does he need to be fed or changed?"

Looking up at her mother, she smiled wanly, trying to look on the outside like everything was fine, while internally, she was still trying to get over the shock of what had happened three days earlier.

"He's sleeping for the moment. Thankfully, he doesn't seem to need a diaper change. I don't want to have to fight the crowd in order to make it to the women's restroom."

Leaning back in her chair, she pulled off her coat and hung it up behind her and then let out another sigh before glancing around the small shop. It was a new addition to West City Mall and all of the consumer reviews she had read about the place said it brewed a damn good cup of coffee for a decent price and the homemade sandwiches, breads, scones, cookies and soups were delicious as well as affordable. Not like some of the chain shops around the area that charged an exorbitant amount for a mediocre product. It had a homey Northwood's atmosphere with a fireplace on one wall and Bulma could feel herself relax slightly because of the environment surrounding her.

"Honey, do you want anything? It's near lunchtime anyway, and I have heard that the food is good. It will be my treat."

Looking over at her mother, Bulma decided it was probably a good stopping point for the moment and she was somewhat hungry. Besides that, if Trunks decided to wake up from his nap, she had brought a few bottles with her and she could feed him while they were eating their own lunch.

"That sounds like a plan Mom. Um, I'll just have a water with lemon and a bowl of their…" Looking at the menu posted behind the counter, she decided on the soup of the day. "I'll have the French onion soup."

With that said, she watched as her mother shook her head in affirmation and then weeded her way towards the counter to give her order. Turning away, she closed her eyes slightly and tried to ignore the headache that had been bothering her since earlier that morning, deciding she would probably have to take a few aspirins. In all actuality, her head had been bothering her ever since Vegeta pushed his consciousness into her own. That had…that had been one of the most terrifying things she had ever encountered in her life. Having somebody force their way inside her memories. She still wasn't over the terror of having him loom over her body or the way he had looked at her. For the first time in her life, she had been afraid of being killed. Considering the fact that during her lifetime, she had been in enough situations where her life had been threatened, to see her inevitable demise at the hands of the man she had had a child with, it was unsettling and she still wasn't over her immediate fear. It didn't even matter that Vegeta had sort of apologized to her for his loss of temper. The damage was already done, and not for the first time did she wonder if Vegeta had omitted certain key details when explaining to her about her status as his mate. It was scary, seeing that side of him.

Trying to shake some of her fear since she was in a non-threatening environment, she bent over again and stroked the top of Trunks head. His silky newborn hair had fallen out and now his regular hair was starting to come in. Even though it was still very thin, she could tell that he was going to have light colored hair and she wondered if it would be lavender like his grandfather's or blonde like his grandmother's. She could tell that it wouldn't be dark brown or black like Vegeta and Goku's hair and she wondered if that was also a sore point with Vegeta, that currently, there were no immediate signs besides Trunks's tail scar that he was his offspring. Smiling slightly at her son, she didn't realize her mother was back with their order until she heard the chair across from her scrap across the floor as her mother pulled it back.

"Here you are, Bulma-chan. Water with lemon and French onion soup."

Glancing upwards, she grabbed her food off of the tray and tucked a napkin in across her lap. Looking over at her mother, she cocked an eyebrow at the assortment of food in front of her.

"Gee Mom, what on earth did you order?"

"Oh, a coconut mocha blended ice with a triple shot of espresso, a double layer chocolate brownie with mint frosting and a couple of macaroons for us to split."

Shaking her head, she could just imagine what her mother was going to be like the rest of the day after eating that much sugar and caffeine. Dancing off of the walls. But that was her mother and she wouldn't change her for anything in the world. Where it counted, her mother was there for her and Trunks, even if she was flighty most of the time.

Blowing on her soup, she took a bite and then set her spoon down.

"So what's with the sudden shopping excursion and luncheon Mom?"

"Do I have to have a reason to go shopping with my daughter? It's been a while since you and I have gone out together with Trunks and I thought you might like a break from working on that capsule ship with your father."

That was true, she _did_ need a break from salvaging the ship. Although, the truth was, she couldn't really afford to take the entire day off from working on it. Considering it had been about a week since they had gotten the parts and started working on building a new one, they had made amazing progress at the sake of having any sort of life outside of working at Capsule Corporation. By both her calculations and her father's calculations, the new gravity room for Vegeta should be finished in a couple of days. There were also plans in the works to actually build an internal gravity room inside Capsule Corporation instead of housing it inside another capsule ship like they were currently doing. Of course, that all depended on whether or not Vegeta decided to stay around after they fought the Androids. Or if, Bulma thought morosely, he survived the ordeal.

Clearing her mind of that depressing thought, Bulma once again found herself concentrating on eating her soup, trying to ignore her the feelings of uneasiness plaguing her ever since that awful confrontation between her, Yamcha and Vegeta. It was actually quite delicious but unfortunately, it didn't seem all that appetizing. However, her hunger won out over her stupid feelings and within about fifteen minutes, both she and her mother were finishing up with their small lunch.

Glancing over at her son, she was surprised that he was still sleeping soundly. Usually, he was up and ready for a feeding and then playtime with either her mother or herself. Not wanting to push her luck with such thoughts, Bulma was about to get up to stretch her legs and put their tray over near the garbage bins when she felt her cell vibrate inside her jean pocket. Pulling it out, she checked the caller id. Seeing who it was, she gave her mother and apologetic look and then flipped the phone open to answer it.

"Hello? Yeah, speaking. Really? That's terrific! Um, can you guys wait a couple of hours? Mm, yes. Well, I guess I can come in. A couple of hours early won't really matter. Sure, I'll be back in about twenty-five minutes. See you then. Bye."

Flipping her phone closed, Bulma opened her purse and threw it inside, zipping it closed hastily before she grabbed the tray and set it over next to the garbage bins as she had been about to do before she had been interrupted. Walking back over to the table, she pulled her coat off the back of her chair and put it on before she leaned over Trunks to bundle him up for the cold that awaited them outside.

"Sorry Mom, but we're going to have to end our shopping trip early. I have to get back to the office. Can you take a rain date?"

"Well, that isn't a problem. But honey, can't it wait just a little bit longer? I wanted to go to that new lingerie boutique that just opened. I thought you could get something to entice Vegeta to stay around Capsule Corporation more often then he has been doing since he got back. The man is never around and I miss seeing his handsome face!"

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, she finished wrapping Trunks up before she answered her mother. Honestly, sometimes it aggravated her to no end how interested her mother seemed to be in her sex life. Certainly, she and Vegeta hadn't been together in that way for…well, most likely close to a year. But sleeping with him wasn't going to make him stay around and she wasn't going to cave into desire with him anyway. Having sex with him in the first place was what had got her into this whole mess to begin with. Leveling a look at her mother, she told her as much.

"Mom, don't even go there. Anyway, doesn't it disturb you just a teensy-weensy bit that your son-in-law bashed in Yamcha's face and sent him to the intensive care unit until Korin can send him a senzu bean? He's a monster and I'm not going to use my body as a lure to have him stick around more often just so you can ogle him. I'm sick of everyone accusing me of being a whore and if I did that, it would just feed that image of myself."

Her mother blinked at her uncertainly. She had just been teasing her daughter, trying to get her to lighten up her mood, but obviously, her tactic had backfired on her.

"Bulma, who has ever accused you of being that way?"

"Who?" Using her right hand, for emphasis, Bulma started to tick off her fingers. "Number one: Vegeta. Number two: Yamcha. So forget it. Besides, I already told Vegeta…" Deciding she was divulging way too much of her personal life to her mother, Bulma shut her mouth and then turned Trunks's stroller around so that they could head back into the mall towards the entrance near where they had parked the car.

"Let's go Mom. We'll go shopping another day. I've got to get back because the parts we special ordered for the gravity simulator are in. If we can get them installed today, the room will be operable, if not exactly beautiful and then I don't have to worry about Vegeta throwing a shit hemorrhage over it."

And with that said, the two women and the baby walked out of the mall into the chilly weather that reminded them spring was still a few months off. And with the spring, came the inevitable confrontation that neither Bulma nor her mother wanted to think about for rather obvious reasons.

_Evening…_

Moving her head from side to side to alleviate the ache that was starting to form there, Bulma breathed out a sigh of relief as she snapped the covering to the control panel of the gravity simulator back in place. Standing up from her kneeling position, she wiped her hands on her work pants and then proceeded to take a look around at the inside of the newest capsule ship built for the personal use of Prince Vegeta. The lights were dimmed and all that was left to do was to make a test run in order to make sure everything was in proper order. Unfortunately, that was going to have to wait until tomorrow, since they still had to finish building a set of bots that could withstand the intense gravity Vegeta would inevitably use on his body all for the sake of reaching Super Saiyan.

Glancing at her watch, Bulma was surprised to see that it was only around eight o'clock in the evening. She knew from experience that the sun had already set, making it dark and creepy outside around the building. Still, it was earlier then she had anticipated it being. Having sent most of the technicians home around five thirty, she hadn't planned on finishing up in the gravity room until almost midnight. Apparently, in all of their haste to get this project completed before Vegeta decided to investigate what was taking so long, they had made further headway then expected. Which, in Bulma's expert opinion, was a good thing. It was one less thing she would have to occupy her mind worrying about and that also meant that she could get back to spending more quality time with her baby.

Bending over to pick up her tools, Bulma made her way towards the exit of the ship, flipping the interior flood lights off as she exited out of the Gravity Room and headed out onto the ramp leading up to the ship's entrance. Shutting the door behind her and locking the ship down, she quietly made her way down the ramp and across the dark expanse of the front lawn, shivering in the cold as she walked towards the beckoning warmth of the main house.

Striding inside, she went into the kitchen and set her tools down on the table. Grabbing a frozen dinner from the freezer, she popped it in the microwave and waited for it to heat, tapping her foot impatiently as she stood against the counter. It had been a long and exhausting day inside the capsule ship, but the pain had been worth the gain. Smiling in satisfaction that her father and herself, along with their team of highly trained technicians and engineers had got the Gravity Room back in working order in such a short amount of time, it was almost enough to quell the nervousness she was still feeling after having seen the true extent of Vegeta's brutal nature once again in action. Mentally shaking her head, she tried to stop thinking about the incident from three days ago, concentrating on congratulating herself for a job well done. Besides, Vegeta had once again disappeared to god knows where and hadn't shown himself around the house since he'd taken off after forcing his way into her mind. Trying to push her thoughts on a safer subject, she almost jumped when the microwave chimed, letting her know that her meal was done heating. Pushing herself away from the kitchen counter, Bulma opened the microwave and grabbed her dinner. Stepping towards the large refrigerator, she pulled the door open and grabbed a soda before she made her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her waiting bedroom.

She already had the rest of her evening mapped out in her head. She would eat her meager supper and watch the home shopping network while trying to relax. Then she would pour herself a luxurious bath in her hot tub, with the added benefit of scented candles and soak until her skin turned wrinkly like a prune. And after all of her relaxation was done, she would check on Trunks and then go to bed at a decent hour of the night, not the wee hours of morning as had become her new schedule since Vegeta had gotten back from training in space. Nodding her head to bolster her resolve, she cradled her hot entrée and soda in the crook of her elbow as she pressed the button to open her bedroom door.

Stepping inside quickly, she turned toward the door and sat her food on top her dresser before shutting and locking it, noticing for the first time that she must have left her lights on by accident when she had gotten home after shopping and had changed into her work pants and jacket. Frowning to herself, she turned around and almost screamed when she realized for the first time that she wasn't alone in her bedroom.

"Holy shit!" Raising one of her shaky hands, she put it up to her chest to still her rapidly beating heart. Glancing towards the side of her bedroom, she glared at the person, more specifically, the man who was sitting cross-legged in the middle of her queen-sized bed.

"Get out!" Trying to quell her growing nervousness, she pointed towards the door and waited for the man on her bed to comply. However, he decided to ignore her edict and glared at her with increasing animosity.

"I've come here to have a discussion with you and I am not leaving until things are settled satisfactorily between the two of us. And stop making such a fuss. It isn't like I haven't been _invited_ to your private abode in the past, is it Woman?"

Grabbing her food off the top of her dresser, Bulma walked towards her living area and flopped down onto an overstuffed armchair. If he wasn't going to leave, then she would just ignore him. It was as simple as that.

"Fine, stay if you want Vegeta. But I'm not talking to you. There is nothing to say, and anyway, whatever things are settled between us, those things are only going to benefit you. So what point is there for me to listen to what you have to say? You don't _discuss_ things with people, you dictate. That is where the difference lies."

With that said, Bulma quickly pulled the foil off of her dinner, shaking her fingers when they were accidentally burned by the hot steam spewing out of the opening. Sucking on her pointer finger gingerly, she leaned over and opened her soda and then turned on the TV, trying to will away her discomfort over having Vegeta sitting in her bedroom.

Trying her best to ignore him, she tuned into the television, letting everything else around her fade from existence. It worked for a few minutes until something suddenly blocked her line of vision rudely. Trying to peer around it, she was only rewarded with the sound of an explosion and the smell of burning plastic teasing her nostrils. Glancing up in shock, she saw Vegeta's back to her and the remains of her plasma screen TV as it fell off of her wall and landed in a smoldering heap onto her expensive Berber carpeting.

She was about to stand up, when she found herself being pressed back into her chair, Vegeta's body looming over her in an intimidating fashion. Swallowing nervously, the look on his face was anything but pleasant, a mask of scorn and derisiveness sullying his handsome looks. Trying to regain somewhat of an upper hand over the situation, she tried to push him away, but as usual, he didn't budge an inch.

"I hope you know that you are going to pay for the TV and the replacement carpeting. And neither of those two items are inexpensive."

Vegeta chose to ignore her comments, instead latching his eyes onto hers as he straightened up in front of where she was sitting.

"I will not be ignored. Not by anyone, and certainly not by you. And if blasting your damn TV to a pile of melted plastic is the only thing that will get your attention, then I will do it. As I said earlier, we have things that need to be discussed about…about our bond."

If anything, the last statement was what got Bulma's attention. Peering up at him nervously, she licked her lips and wondered what it was he was going to tell her. If, in fact, he had kept certain things from her which he shouldn't have done in the first place. Trying to act cool, Bulma sat her dinner down and glanced back up to where he was standing with his arms crossed.

"What about it?"

Rolling his eyes in an irritated fashion, Vegeta started to pace back and forth in front of Bulma, trying to put his thoughts in order. He could tell she was afraid of him, and knowing that bothered him more than it should have. Internally, he was seething with frustration over all of these 'developments' between himself and Bulma. First, his unnatural attraction towards her of all people, then the inevitable mangling of the Saiyan bond by taking her as his mate, followed by promptly impregnating her, and now the fact that whether he liked it or not, their bond was cementing permanently, even with their forced separation from one another. It was such a pain in the ass and an unwanted distraction. Still, what was done was done and as he had discovered the difficult way, trying to separate himself from her hadn't worked as wonderfully has he had hoped it would. If anything, coming back to her after being gone for so long had only made things worse once again, even if his mental barriers where up and functioning. His irrational and over the top jealousy of her ex-lover and the fact that even after spending a week away from her, it was taking his sheer willpower not to once again cave into her intoxicating, if rather unsettling presence. Baka, baka idiot! And no matter what Bulma said to the contrary, she had to be feeling the pull just as strongly as he was.

"Our bond, it is…it is becoming more concrete."

Looking at him oddly, Bulma crossed her arms and asked the obvious question at the tip of her tongue.

"What?"

"It…is…cementing."

"I…heard…you…the first time! I get it! But what exactly does that mean? Wasn't it cemented or whatever the very first night that we…that we, well, you know?"

Exasperated with her lack of respect for him and the fact that even he wasn't sure about the customs and behaviors associated with taking a mate, Vegeta threw his hands in the air and growled loudly.

"How the fuck should I know? Apparently, it wasn't. I don't know if that has to do with the fact that I took a human with low telepathic powers as my mate, but the fact remains that if anything, this dumb ass bond between you and I has gotten stronger since I have been gone, certainly not weaker. My reaction the other day is if anything, testament to that fact. I could…I could feel him kissing you! Do you know how absolutely revolting that is? Bah!"

Bulma blinked back in shock. He could feel…?

"If you could sense that or feel it, then why the hell did you think I was a willing participant? Didn't you hear me screaming in my head for him to stop? Or were you too pumped up on jealousy to make that connection?" Bulma spat out angrily.

Stalking over to where she was seated, Vegeta leveled a hateful look at her before continuing on.

"Don't try pinning the blame entirely on me Woman. You shouldn't have been leading him on. You…are…_mine_! Not scarred up fuck face, not Kakarot's, and certainly not any other man's. MINE!"

Grabbing her arm, he pulled her up roughly and then pushed down the fabric of her collar, exposing the place where her shoulder and neck connected, the place that had a very telltale scar gracing her skin. Taking his hand, he touched it with the pad of his thumb and smirked in satisfaction when Bulma tried to jerk away from him, mostly to save herself the embarrassment of revealing just how much his touching was unnerving her. No matter that she had told him about her plans to ignore him, her body was telling her something completely different. He himself was also tired of trying to force himself away from what his Saiyan nature obviously wanted. It was taking too much energy and mind power to keep him on the straight and narrow path he had set before himself, even before he had left to train in space.

"This mark that you have, I gave it to you and I claimed you, whether that was my intention or not. As such, you are mine physically and mentally." Just as I am yours, he added internally, not willing to give Bulma any power over him. "If anyone touches you and you allow it, that is strictly forbidden. As custom dictates, such a violation has the punishment of death of both you and the person you chose to share intimacies with by the hand of your mate. And, should anyone be foolish enough to pursue you, even if that is not your desired wish, they also can be punished by death as well. So it is in your benefit to remember who you are spending your time with, especially if they are a male. If I think they are becoming too…how shall I phrase this, friendly? Too friendly with you, then I can kill them with no questions asked."

"That's…that's totally barbaric Vegeta! Sure, maybe in your own sick and twisted mind, you were sort of protecting me from Yamcha, but because of you, he's in intensive care! I'm not saying that I wanted him pursuing me, but you can't just kill people off because they are after something that you want as well. Besides, Goku's a Saiyan and he wouldn't kill somebody if they showed an interest in Chi-Chi!"

Pulling her in even closer to his own body, trying his best to ignore the feeling of her body pressed against his own or her scent, he used his other free hand to pull her face towards his own.

"You think so? Sure, Kakarot's a moron, but if he mated with her in the Saiyan way, even if he didn't realize he had done so, there would be no question about whether or not he would destroy any possible rivals. He would do it, even knowing that such an action would probably destroy the idiot since he's such a pansy ass. He would do it because it is instinctual. In all actuality, he probably wouldn't even notice until after the damage was done, more so since he is a third class soldier, no matter how strong he has become physically."

Loosening up on his grip on her, he let her slide away a few inches before continuing on, trying not to become to distracted by her almost overwhelming presence. After all, it _had_ been a long time and he was a man. Pushing that licentious thought out of his head for the moment, he focused on explaining exactly how things were going to be between the two of them now that he was back. He knew, without a doubt in his mind, that Bulma would kick and scream and try to somehow circumvent what he was going to say because she wouldn't like it at all. And that, he realized, was where his entire stupid attraction for her lay. It was true that she was an attractive woman, something he had tried to deny the moment he set eyes on her and found himself drawn towards the alien female. However, that couldn't explain how his attraction for her had turned into the desire to mate with her in the Saiyan sense. Certainly, she had thrown the gauntlet down months ago when she had given him that fucked up ultimatum. But that really shouldn't have been enough for him to go full circle with her. Her power level was pathetic, not even a five, but her no nonsense attitude and her mental strength, the fact that she could actually challenge him, that was what had caused all of this to happen in the first place. He had stupidly allowed himself to be drawn in. And she had allowed it as well.

Clearing his throat, he once again found himself looking into her eyes before he began their discussion.

"At any rate, I'm not here to speculate with you on whether or not Kakarot would kill any rivals for his shrew of a mate. That is beside the point."

"Well, what exactly is the point Vegeta? I don't particularly like being forced to stand against your body while you try to figure out what the hell it is you have to say to me."

Twisting his lips into a cynical smile, Vegeta once again pulled Bulma in closer to his body; making sure to press his hand against the mark he had given her. She was a smart mouthed wench and she needed to learn her place. That was why he was here.

"The point is that no matter how much you or I try to fight or circumvent our bond, the inevitable outcome is that we will only become more closely linked mentally and…and physically the longer we are together. Trying to avoid it is futile, as I have discovered. Certainly, being in farther proximity from one another lessons the obvious joining of minds, but once the two of us are near one another, it only is that much stronger. Surely you can sense that…Bulma."

Swallowing nervously, she knew that he was telling the truth. At least on her end, there had been no discernable difference except that she could tell where he was more clearly now then when he had last been on Earth. She knew it had to do with the fact that she had never attempted to close her mind off to Vegeta. However, in the case of sensing Vegeta, where as before he had completely closed off his mind to her, while it was still difficult if not impossible for her to pry into what he was thinking, his emotional states where much easier to read because either he wasn't blocking them away or the nature of their bond was maturing. Still, none of this really meant anything to her.

"So what your saying is that this bond between the two of us is maturing and there is no way to separate ourselves from one another. Or rather, there isn't any point to try and separate ourselves from another because we can't be…oh, god."

Blinking at Bulma's reaction, he knew at that moment she finally comprehended the finality of their situation and how foolish her ideas to try and pull herself away from him where. Just as he had finally understood it, even if he had known the damning truth all along. Releasing her from his grip, he watched as she took a step back and then slumped into one of her armchairs.

"There is no way out of this, is there Vegeta? It's not like marriage here on Earth where you have a legal ceremony and if things don't work out, you can just divorce each other. And you can't cut out any emotional attachments because…"

Picking up where she left off, Vegeta continued her sentence.

"Because you are linked mentally. It is like a merging of minds that only grows stronger over time if the bond was properly done. And since instincts dictate it to be properly done, that is what has happened between the two of us, whether we wished for it to happen or not. And the truth is, even I didn't realize this fact until after I went into space. Nappa never fully explained things to me."

"I still don't like you."

Raising an eyebrow at her, Vegeta snorted. It would be just like her to say such a stupid comment.

"Whatever Woman. I have a thick skin and besides that, I don't give a damn. All I care is that you understand what it means to be bonded to me. As a Saiyan, all relationships are dictated by physical strength. Call it a survival mechanism, if you will. The strongest are the ones that survive, so the weaker take it upon themselves to form alliances with those who are more powerful then they. And because fighting is such an integral part of what it means to by a Saiyan, any Saiyan weaker then another will try to make themselves stronger so that they can be on the top."

"Just like you and Goku."

Growling at her, he chose to ignore that comment, not willing to share with her his rather large secret at the current moment.

"As I said, in Saiyan culture, all relationships are dictated by physical strength. That includes mated pairs. You are a physically weak specimen, pathetic even among humans. But you are…you have a very strong and dominating personality." Vegeta admitted gruffly, feeling embarrassed in his justification for claiming her, even if it was the truth. Unfortunately, after Bulma got over her irritation at being labeled as physically weak, especially since she regularly worked out and had great stamina according to her personal trainer, the second half of his comment piqued her interest.

"You think my personality is strong and dominating? That's what you like about me? And to think, all those months ago when I'd argue with you just to make you angry, I was turning you on. Wow."

Grimacing at her rather ridiculous, if true, assessment of his comment, he decided it would probably be prudent not to feed her ego. It was humiliating enough that he had just admitted his unconscious reason for being interested in her as more then just a sexual partner.

"You can think what you want, baka onna. But I expect you to pay close attention to the rest of what I have to say."

All Bulma did was look at him waiting impatiently to hear whatever other revelations he finally decided to share with her, no matter how uncomfortable they were making her feel.

"You are my mate. And I have gotten a child on you, whether that was my intent or not. As the stronger of the two of us, it is my duty to protect you and to…to train the brat once he his old enough. However, I won't go out of my way to keep you out of danger. To do so would show an obvious weakness that could be exploited. I don't want people knowing the full truth behind our relationship. Obviously, the truth of Trunks's parentage will eventually come out. But that is as far as it will go. I cannot have such a liability. That also means when the day of the Androids attack is upon us, I don't want you expecting me to keep you out of trouble you inflict upon yourself. I know you have the bad habit of pushing yourself into the frontlines at the expense of your stupid friends. Don't get in my way Bulma."

"Whoever said that I would want to get in your way, you asshole? And I'm sorry I'm such a pathetic excuse for a mate that you are ashamed of me."

Vegeta could feel his temper rising at her willful misunderstanding of the things he had just told her. She had the annoying habit of looking at things from her own narrow viewpoint without taking into consideration the thoughts of others. Something he also had the unfortunate habit of also doing. Shoving that thought out of his head, he glared at her.

"I'm not ashamed of you. Get it through your thick head. If those…those Androids find out that I have claimed a mate, considering they truly understand the truth behind such an action, they could use you and Trunks as a way to weaken me. And I cannot have any such weaknesses exposed. If that happens, I will not allow myself to be torn from my course of action, no matter how much my instincts will scream for me to do the opposite and save your hide. Do you understand? You and Kakarot are exactly the same. Idiotic optimists who only see things from the viewpoint of what is honorable or noble. Well, I have been on the frontlines for most of my entire life and I know what the enemy is capable of, having used such tactics myself."

Swallowing uncomfortably, Bulma nodded even though she didn't like being reminded once again of what Vegeta himself was capable of doing to those who he considered to be enemies. And since he had such an intimate knowledge of what could happen if the other side found out vital information about himself, she supposed she could understand his desire to keep the nature of their relationship a secret even if she didn't like it.

"Further more, this idea of you dictating to me what will happen between the two of us is ludicrous. I've humored you more then I should have if you think for once that you will have the power in this relationship. That is not how it works. I protect you and provide for you and in return, you provide for me what I need and what I want, whether you want to or not."

Blinking in surprise, Bulma let his words sink into her mind before she realized exactly what he was saying. Sitting up straighter in her chair, she crossed her arms and opened her mouth before he could continue on.

"Just one second. You protect me and…and _provide_ for me? You've been gone for months, you waltz in here, almost kill me and then tell me that I have to do whatever you want because you happen to be physically stronger then me? You have to be out of your mind if you think for one second that I'm going to go along with that Vegeta!"

He knew that she was going to have trouble with his statement, just as she had fought him tooth and nail about almost any demand that he had made of her, both in the past and in the present. Still, she needed to learn her place and he would force her into compliance if he needed to. It was enough that he was acknowledging this relationship to begin with, even though he didn't have a choice in the matter. But she would finally understand what it meant to be his mate and that was final. Watching her, he could not only see the visible anger on her face but he could feel it pushing at him through their bond. If she only knew the effect she was having on him currently, she would probably be wise enough to curtail her reaction to his statement.

"I know you Woman. I know you think that by denying me sexual release with you, you think you have some sort of power over me. I really don't give a fuck about that. The truth is, no matter what you try to do to push your attachment to me away from you and no matter how much you try to gain the upper hand, it is impossible. Why do you think I've been telling you all of this? For my own amusement? No, the truth is much simpler. You need to learn your place in regards to me. I won't make…excessive demands on you, but in return for my protection of you and the brat, you will support me in any capacity that you can in order to make it possible to do those very things. And as far as sex goes, whether you try to deny me or not, it will happen. I'm the stronger of the two of us. _I_ make the decision of when those things happen, not you. Are we clear on all of this?"

Letting out an exasperated huff, Bulma stood up from her chair and held her arms around her stomach, trying to quell down her anger and her hurt over how callous Vegeta was. She knew exactly how this discussion was going to be and to hear it coming from his mouth, what did she think he would say? It was just so barbaric, the idea that because he was physically stronger then him she had to be his slave. The truth was, her pride wouldn't take it, but whom was she kidding? She'd been fulfilling his desires even before they'd bonded. Because she cared about him and she had wanted him to succeed. However, once again, she was being faced with the fact that he only thought of her in the capacity as someone to fulfill his needs and nothing more. He wouldn't…he wouldn't even protect her if she got in his way. Glancing up at him, she shook her head in disappointment.

"You're right Vegeta. I can't deny this stupid bond between us even if I wanted to. But I'm not going to be your slave. I have been an independent woman as long as I can remember. Not until I met you have I ever had anyone dictate to me what I should do or how I should act. And I'm not going to change just because you say that's the way it has to be."

"Really Woman? You think you can deny me just because you say you can? If that were the case, things between the two of us would have taken a vastly different path. At any rate, I didn't expect that you would take to my stipulations without trying to put up a fight. And if anything, I _enjoy_ challenges."

With that said hanging in the air between them, Vegeta flashed a feral grin at her, showing off his enlarged canines. Closing the distance between the two of them, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in close to his body, nuzzling her neck with his mouth.

"Vegeta…Vegeta stop it. This isn't a game. I'm serious!"

Pushing against him, he only tightened is grip and then moved his mouth to her earlobe.

"I know it isn't a game, Bulma. It stopped being a game the moment you and I finally started down the path of being a pair. Listen to your…your heart and you will know what I told you is true." Vegeta whispered huskily to her before he sucked on the outer edge of her ear.

Trying not to give into what Vegeta obviously wanted at the moment, Bulma could feel a tear start to slide down her cheek. Listen to her heart? She had a long time ago and this is where it had gotten her. Being in love with a person who would never reciprocate those same feelings. Sighing, she relaxed slightly when he shifted positions and she found his mouth on her own. Before she knew it, she found herself already on the path that would lead toward actions that she had tried to hold back from participating in with him. Wrapping her arms around his back, she caved into his touch even though she internally felt disgusted with her weakness. No matter how many times she gave into this, the truth was, he would never return her feelings.

If only she knew the truth though. Certainly Vegeta was far from admitting that he had an emotional attachment to Bulma besides an obvious attraction towards her. But he did…care about her and that is why he had told her what he wanted from her. Because that way, it would be easier for him if she tried to get rid of her feelings of affection towards him. In truth, he wasn't ready for that sort of attachment and all of the ramifications it brought with it. In this way, he could live up to expectations that didn't demand perfection from him, should the Android onslaught prove to be as disastrous as the boy from the future said it would be, leaving a mate and child alone to deal with the aftermath. Perhaps it was cowardly of him, but he didn't want those thoughts hanging over him, as they surely would should he allow Bulma to keep having unrealistic feelings and expectations of him.

_I hope the last paragraph was cryptic. I believe the next chapter will deal with disastrous Android confrontation and the inevitable introduction of Cell. While I will be following the premise of the show, I won't be doing an episode-by-episode recap of events. The story will fall at the in-between times, after the major battles and such. I know that this is a get together story, but the truth is, in my opinion, no matter that they are together, they really don't become a couple until after the Cell Games end. So please bare with me and give me feedback if you like the direction the story is going. My plan is to have it finished by or before chapter 40. I never expected this story to take this long to write or be this long, but it has a mind of it's own. Please leave a review if you would like. Thanks-Vegamarie_


	34. Chapter 34

_Here is another chapter to this exceedingly long story about Bulma and Vegeta. It's been a while since I updated, mostly because I haven't had much time to sit and hack out a chapter. And, I had to re-read some of the story to get back into the feeling of it. And thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far.  
_

_Also, I have once again decided to skip ahead to move things along. How Bulma and Vegeta have been getting along since their last confrontation will be revealed (but if you can't guess, I don't know…j/k!)_

_Chapter 34_

Blinking her eyes slowly to rid them of early morning dryness, Bulma half-heartedly covered her mouth as she let out a long and tired sounding yawn. Pushing the covers forward, she shivered as the cold air of the room hit the bare skin of her arms and upper torso. Swiveling around, she thrust her legs over the side of her bed and slowly stood, letting the rest of the blankets fall away from her naked body as she yawned and stretched her arms over her head, feeling goose bumps spreading across her body.

It had been a few hours since Vegeta had left her that morning and she had been unable to fall back asleep. Watching the minutes and then hours pass by on her alarm clock, she had finally come to a decision that laying around in bed would only lend itself to her increased anxiety. She herself wasn't an early morning riser, so that fact that she was up and about at five thirty in the morning still hadn't registered with the rest of her body. Stumbling slightly, she slowly made her way to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Turning on the shower, she made sure the water was hot before she stepped inside and slumped against the wall, watching the water as it made runnels down her skin before descending to the floor drain.

Tomorrow was the day.

Tomorrow, Vegeta would find out if all of the training he'd pushed himself to endure was worth the trouble it had caused both for himself and for…for her.

Tomorrow, they would find out if the nightmare of the future that the strange boy had told them about would also become their reality.

If Bulma was honest with herself, she wasn't ready to face tomorrow. She didn't want it to happen and…and she didn't want Vegeta or any of her friends to end up becoming casualties to the horrors the boy from the future had foretold three years earlier. All of her friends had already suffered enough, ever since Goku's brother had decided to come and pay a visit.

Why did it continue to have to be like this? Why were there such people out there who only cared about their own petty concerns and quests for power? It never had made sense to Bulma why someone who could do good would end up turning bad over something so trivial as trying to prove that they were the best. All such actions ever caused was hurt and misery, two things that Bulma hated above all others. Maybe it was because she had grown up with a life of privilege, never having really known hardship that made her feel the way that she did. Or perhaps, since coming to be in a relationship with Vegeta, even if it was a rather one-sided one, she had finally caught a glimpse of someone who had truly suffered throughout their short life, even if they hid the fact even from themselves. Whatever the reason, even though she knew her friends had been preparing for this event, she did not want tomorrow to happen because if things didn't go according to plan, she would end up losing…everything.

Shaking her head slowly, she mentally told herself to stop focusing on the negative and to think about the positive. Pulling away from the shower wall, she took a shower puff and squirted a dollop of shower gel onto it. Lathering it up, she brought it to her nose and inhaled the scent, closing her eyes and letting the hot water relax her already tense muscles. It smelled…it smelled like Vegeta. Blushing slightly, she dropped the puff away from her face and started to wash her body. He had taken a liking to this particular brand of shower gel, although he never would have admitted to such a thing openly. However, whenever he ran out of it, he would leave the empty bottle in her room with a simple note attached telling her to buy more of it for him. And for some reason, she had decided that she liked the scent of him wrapped around her own body, so she had started to use it as well. Wondering if Vegeta noticed that she smelled like him on a day-to-day basis, Bulma allowed herself to smile slightly before getting back to the task at hand.

In a few moments, the lather from the soap was making swirls and eddies as it slowly slid down the shower drain. Yawning unenthusiastically, Bulma once again found herself slumped against the shower wall.

Vegeta…

He was training…somewhere. Somewhere to the north of the city, far enough away that he wouldn't be observed by humans but close enough that when he decided to come and get nourishment, it would only take him a few minutes to fly back if he used some of his ki to augment the speed of his flight. Even though their bond was solidifying, if that's what one would call it, and both her and Vegeta had stopped fighting it, he was still impossible to read. In reality, Bulma didn't want to know what was going on in his head in regards to her anyway. It was just…painful.

He had been back for months now, yet he felt more distant then he had even before they had come together after her disastrous breakup with Yamcha. In a way, she was glad for that because it was easier to go along with his stipulations regarding their relationship as a pair. As long as she focused her energy on doing what was required of her so that he could succeed, it wasn't as difficult as she thought it would be to put aside some of her pride and follow his edicts. He was, after all, here to protect the Earth for the time being. And being his other half, once she finally decided to accept things as they were, it only made sense to provide the things that he needed and required in order to fulfill his role as protector. It still rankled though, that he refused to…

Growling under her breath, she let out a tense pant and then decided to focus on finishing her shower instead of thinking about Vegeta and herself. Quickly washing her hair, she rinsed the soap out and then slid the tap shut, cutting the hot water off. Watching the steam billow up and over the glass shower door, she pulled her towel down and started to dry off before she became overly chilled. It didn't take long before she was out of the shower and in her terry bathrobe, brushing her recently cut hair and looking at her reflection through her clouded over mirror.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Bulma used her hand to wipe away some of the moisture clinging to the glass surface of her bathroom mirror. She didn't look much different then she had a year ago except that she wasn't pregnant. And she wasn't alone or abandoned, although sometimes it still felt like she was. It didn't help to dwell on the things she couldn't change, though. Straightening up, she smiled brightly to hide her anxiety about tomorrow and pulled away from the bathroom sink. Humming slightly, she stepped back into her bedroom and made her way over to the closet, rummaging around for a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Once she was dressed comfortably, if not exactly elegantly, she left her room and walked across the hallway to where Trunks was situated.

Even though it was still early, she wasn't surprised to see that her son was already awake, standing against the railing of his crib as he clumsily tried to reach for the animal shapes of his mobile. As soon as he saw her, his face lit into an almost toothless baby grin before he inelegantly plopped back down onto his crib mattress and put his arms out as a signal for her to come and pick him up.

"Ma…Mamamama…ma!"

Stepping across the room, she picked him up in her arms and snuggled her face against his soft, lavender hair. She loved him so much and it hurt inside to think that if things went wrong tomorrow…but she wasn't going to think about that. Inhaling slightly, she could tell that Trunks needed a change of diaper and so she went about cleaning him up and dressing him without thinking about anything other then the tasks set out in front of her. There would be time enough later in the day for that. Pulling him up and away from the changing table, she carried him out of his room and down the stairs, stopping in the kitchen to grab something to eat before she headed to the lab.

Walking through the doorway, she wasn't surprised to find her mother already up and about.

"Morning Mom. Do you have any coffee made?"

Her mother motioned towards her left and Bulma saw that a pot had already been brewed. Putting Trunks in a high chair, she walked over and pulled out a mug before pouring herself a cup. Taking in a small sip, she savored the acidic taste before she put her mug down and looked over to where her mother was making something.

"You're up early Bulma. Did Trunks wake you up again?"

"No. Vegeta left at around three to train and I couldn't fall back asleep. So here I am."

"He's working himself too hard. He should take the day off and relax once in a while. And why does he always insist on leaving so early? No matter how hard I try to be up and have a good breakfast ready for him, he's always gone. It's like he's avoiding me or something."

Not meaning to, Bulma chuckled slightly. Maybe Vegeta _was_ avoiding her mother, but she didn't think he was doing it intentionally. Well, maybe he was…slightly. Who could really blame him for that anyway? Her mother could drive the most easy going person in the world batty and Vegeta wasn't known for having a good handle on his temper. Deciding to reassure her mother, Bulma walked around the counter and gave her a hug, something she didn't normally do.

"What was that for?"

"Because I wanted to. Besides, you worry too much about Vegeta. Like you've told me countless numbers of times, he's a big boy and he can take care of himself. And by now you have to know that when Vegeta wants to fulfill a goal, there is no break until he's met it. I would think something was seriously wrong with him if he wasn't up at the crack of dawn training, especially today of all days."

With that said, Bulma pulled away from her mother and walked around to the table, taking her mug of coffee with her. Sitting down, she stared morosely at her hands.

"Bulma?"

Blinking, she looked up and focused on where her mother was still standing, looking at her in concern.

"What?"

"You'd better feed Trunks before he decides to eat his high chair."

Startled, she looked over to where Trunks was sitting, hungrily knawing on the knuckles of his fists. Standing up hurriedly, she went into the pantry and pulled out his baby cereal, mixing it up quickly at the kitchen counter and bringing it over to where he was sitting along with a bottle of juice she had pulled out of the walk in refrigerator. Putting the food in front of him, she pulled a chair over and helped him to eat the sticky cereal, watching as he managed to smear it all over his face and hands and down the front of his bib. Still, he was only a baby and he was starting to get better at feeding himself, along with learning how to walk and talk. To think that a year ago, he wasn't even born, it was amazing how far he'd already come in his short life.

Finishing up, Bulma stood and grabbed a damp washcloth. Quickly and efficiently, she washed Trunks face and arms, unclipped his bib and then placed him in the play pen next to the table before sitting back down to finish her coffee. Taking another sip, she looked on as her mother put whatever it was she was making into the oven and then walked over to the kitchen counter and started to slice into what looked like a homemade coffee cake. Taking out two plates, her mother put a generous portion on each before she walked around to the table and sat down, handing one over to her daughter.

Shaking her head, Bulma pushed the offered breakfast item away.

"I'm not really hungry Mom. But thanks anyway. I'm sure it's good. I've got to get going anyway. You don't mind watching Trunks for a while, do you?"

"I don't mind watching him, but why are you in such a hurry to get to the lab? You usually don't show up until after ten and it isn't even seven yet. Besides, your father is still asleep and I don't want this coffee cake to go to waste, since Vegeta left before he could enjoy it."

Deciding it wasn't worth arguing with her mother about, Bulma pulled the coffee cake over to herself and took a bite, even though it tasted like ashes in her mouth. Smiling slightly, she forced herself to eat even though her body was telling her not too. Taking a swig of her now cool coffee, Bulma washed the rest of the cake down before starting to pull her chair away from the table.

"Bulma, don't go down there today. Please."

Stopping, she raised her eyebrow at her mother, wondering what was prompting her to ask such a thing.

"Why?"

"You need a break, just like Vegeta does. Going down there to work on something isn't going to change what will happen tomorrow."

"How do you know that Mom? Maybe it will. At any rate, working on something in the lab will keep my mind occupied on something besides worrying over what will happen to Vegeta and the others tomorrow."

Leaning back in her chair, she waited for her mother to say something before she stood up and went over to Trunks's playpen.

"We are all worried about tomorrow. But I'd like to spend it with you and Trunks, and your father if I can persuade him to take a break as well. How long has it been since we've done something together?"

Shrugging, Bulma bent over and kissed the top of her son's head. Pulling herself upright, she crossed her arms and found her eyes locked on her mother's.

"I don't know. It's been a while, I guess. Maybe we can have a special dinner tonight, but I really, _really _need to be in the lab or else I'll drive myself crazy with worry. I don't want that for myself, or for Vegeta either, especially since I know he can feel everything that I'm feeling. He has to stay focused, and so do I. So I'm sorry."

She could see in her mother's face that she was disappointed, but she wasn't going to change her plans for the day. Her mother nodded glumly in disappointment, making Bulma feel guilty for refusing to spend the day going on a shopping spree or out for a spa treatment. However, there were more important things that needed to be done instead of spending her time in a frivolous manner. If they all made it out of the Android's attack unscathed, there would be time enough for that later. It was her current responsibility to remain focused and in control.

Waving slightly to her mother, Bulma turned around and left the kitchen, walking quickly down the hallway towards the entrance that led to the corporation and the labs that it held. Following the rote directions in her brain, Bulma was at her lab before she even realized it, opening the door and stepping inside. Turning on a light switch, she watched as her surroundings were suddenly surrounded and bathed in artificial light. Grabbing a lab coat, she slipped it on over her arms and then walked over to her computer, unlocking it and pulling up plans for some of the revisions they were looking at doing for their space capsule lineup. Focusing her energy on deciphering and making changes to the plans, Bulma became engrossed enough that thoughts of tomorrow finally were pushed out of the forefront of her mind, at least temporarily.

_Many hours later, around 9 pm…_

Vegeta stepped out of his room into the hallway that ran outside of it. Rubbing his damp hair slightly with a towel, he stood outside his doorway and glanced at the room next to his before throwing the towel over his t-shirt clad torso. He knew Bulma was in her room and it wasn't hard for him to zone onto her location in any event. Letting out a sigh of inevitability, he walked over to her room and hesitated slightly before he pushed the button and waited for the door to slide open.

Striding confidently into her lair, he was surprised to find some of her lamps lit but no sign of his woman. Glancing around, he made sure she wasn't in the bathroom before he walked towards the doors that led to the balcony outside. Peering into the lengthening darkness of the night, it wasn't hard to pick out her shape leaning against the balcony railing.

He stood there for a while, content to watch her as she gazed out over the city in front of her. He didn't know if she noticed him or not, but he narrowed his eyes when he saw her hand move away from her mouth as a tell tale ring of smoke escaped in front of her. Taking an unconscious step forward, he cleared his throat slightly to make sure that she knew she was no longer alone outside.

Not turning around from where she was standing, Bulma brought the cigarette to her lips and sucked in another drag, using the nicotine as a way to calm her overactive nerves.

"What do you want?"

"What makes you think I want anything?"

"Because Vegeta, with you, it's always about what you want and what you need."

He had to agree with her, but it wasn't always about what he wanted and what he needed. And tonight was one of those times, though even he wasn't completely sure why he felt compelled to seek her out for the hell of it. Maybe, on a subconscious level, it had to do with the fact that tonight might be the last time that he would see her. Bah, he did not want to spend the rest of the evening trying to figure out the intricacies of his fucked up mind and fucked up relationship with Bulma. Trying to change the subject, he walked over to one of the patio chairs she had set up on the balcony and took a seat.

"I wish you wouldn't do that Woman. It makes you seem stupid."

He looked on as Bulma slowly turned around and leveled a glare at him, purposely flicking the ash off the end of her cigarette in his direction before taking in another drag of the noxious drug.

"So what? I don't care if it makes me seem stupid. It's all about what feels good, and right now, this is what I…"

She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence. Before she even registered what was happening, Vegeta had the wrist of the hand that was holding her cigarette in his grip. Putting pressure on her wrist, Bulma cried out slightly and instinctively dropped her half-finished cigarette to the ground. Backing away somewhat and nursing her sore wrist, she angrily watched as Vegeta stomped the flame out with his bare foot before moving away from her.

"You have some nerve Vegeta!"

"Don't push your luck with me tonight Woman. I'm not in the mood. And as for nerve, do you delight in poisoning yourself with that filth? Do you even know what you're doing to yourself? Baka, baka, _baka!_"

Feeling defensive, Bulma crossed her arms under her breasts and looked spitefully at her mate as he stared at her, his mouth twisted into a vicious looking snarl.

"Of course I know what I'm doing to myself. And it's my choice, not yours! At any rate, I hardly ever smoke, only when I need something extra to help me relax."

"Hmph, it seems like the hardly ever part has become a regular habit of yours. You can lie to yourself all you want, but I can smell the stench of that disgusting drug on you no matter how you try to hide it from me. I am telling you from experience that taking a stimulant to alter your state of mind is not going to help you in the long run. For once, heed my advice before you end up becoming a victim to your own stupidity."

Blinking in surprise at Vegeta, she let out a sigh and walked over to where he was sitting. Pulling a chair around, she sat down and crossed her legs, leaning forward and looking intently towards her mate.

"You have some experience with drugs Vegeta?"

"What concern is it of yours?"

"It's not a concern…I'm just curious is all. I mean, you never voluntarily give information out like that. At least, not in the entire time that I've known you."

Letting out an exasperated laugh, Bulma sighed and leaned back against her chair, looking off to the side and up at the dim stars above.

"I hardly know you Vegeta. Yeah, I've seen images of your past, but even that has faded a lot since that night…Buy hey, I don't expect you to start now, so forget I even asked."

Watching Bulma as she looked up at the stars, Vegeta licked his lips. He didn't understand it…why he was here with her, why he…why he had let that smidgeon of his past escape. Perhaps it was because she was his partner for life and the thought of her needlessly throwing that life away by using some disgusting chemical disturbed him. And maybe it was even simpler than that: he could die tomorrow, though he didn't think that he would, and this could very well be the last night that he would spend with her. Instead of parting in hateful silence, he wanted her to at least have some sort of…fond memory of him. Grunting sourly over his softness towards Bulma, Vegeta looked away as he composed his thoughts.

"In all honesty Bulma, you're better off not knowing 'me.' I understand this about your personality: you pity things that seem unkind or cruel to those you know. I cannot stand pity and if you really knew…if you really and truly understood about my past, that is how you would feel about me. If it means anything to you, I would rather have you think of me as a cold blooded killer than as an object to be pitied."

Bulma glanced at Vegeta and then let out a tired sounding sigh, trying to understand why it seemed impossible to ever truly get the chance to figure him out.

"Knowing you doesn't mean knowing about your past. I mean, the past does make you into the person you are, but I'm not even thinking about it like that. What do you like Vegeta? What are your interests besides fighting? What's your favorite color? What's your favorite food? Who was your first girlfriend? Maybe those questions seem trivial to you, but they aren't to me. I don't care if you ever did drugs before. Fuck, we all do stupid stuff growing up. That's just a part of life. I'd just like to see the other facet to who you are besides the Saiyan killer you'd like everyone to believe that you are. But I suppose it's too late for that anyway."

"That's just it Woman. I don't want you to think of me as anything but how I have presented myself to everyone. Why do you always have to try to delve into things that matter so little to begin with? Who the fuck cares what my favorite color is? _I_ don't even care about that! Or the food I like to eat? What does that matter? My life has been given to me in order so that I can fulfill a purpose, and that purpose is proving that I am the strongest. Not Freiza, not Kakarrot, and not some stupid Androids. In the end, who is going to care about the trivial shit that makes up who I am? _Who?_"

At the end of his tirade, Vegeta was shouting. Audibly clicking his teeth together, he let out an angry snort and tried to reign in his rage. He was here to spend time with Bulma, not to argue with or become upset with her, but she was such a stubborn woman! And when it all boiled down, her finding out those things about him would only cement the emotional ties she already had vested into him, though she continually tried to hide the evidence. He didn't want things to become even more complicated then they were because there was the very real chance that he could die tomorrow. He knew how she would react and if she felt an even deeper attachment to him…Tapping his fingers against his biceps, he tried to ignore the fact that the reason he was trying to stop Bulma from forming unnecessary attachments to him was because deep down inside, he cared about her future well being, and she was the first being he had ever felt such a feeling for. But Bulma wouldn't understand that and he was too stubborn to ever admit to such a weakness on his part in the first place. If he was honest with himself, Bulma's attachment to him was such that anything he did to try to pull her away from him ended up backfiring anyway. What difference would it make if he divulged a little frivolous personal information to her anyway? He was here to leave her with some sort of fond memory of him to begin with. He was about to speak up when he heard Bulma's voice chime in quietly.

"I care about it, Vegeta."

"Baka onna, I know you do and that's the whole problem."

Glancing over at where Vegeta was sitting with his arms crossed, his damp hair laying against his head in a haphazard manner, Bulma bit her lip uncertainly, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't anger or agitate Vegeta more then he already was. She didn't want to add to the discomfort he was most likely feeling thinking about the upcoming battle tomorrow and how it would turn out for him and the rest of humanity.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she frowned slightly and once again leaned forward to get a good look at him.

"It's hard…not too, you know? I don't even understand it myself. It's not like I wanted to have the feelings I have for you Vegeta. They just happened, though things would have been so much easier if we…well, never mind. But it doesn't have to be a problem. It's what you make of it, I guess."

"Well, if it makes you feel better to know something stupid and pointless about me, my favorite color is…it's blue. My favorite food, hmmm…anything that still isn't alive when I eat it. I have no interests besides becoming stronger and beating Kakarot, and I have never had a girlfriend."

Bulma blinked her eyes slowly and then burst out laughing. It had been so long since she had found something funny enough to laugh at, she couldn't stop herself even though she had a feeling Vegeta would take offense towards her reaction.

"Your favorite food is anything that still isn't alive when you eat it? And you don't have any interests besides beating Goku? Hahaha! You have to be the most boring person I know!" Snorting out a laugh, Bulma wrapped her arms around herself until she stopped laughing, tears of mirth leaking out at the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry you feel that way Woman. Had I known, I would never have lowered myself into telling you." Vegeta stated dryly as he stood up to leave, embarrassment warring with his damnable sense of pride.

Taking a step past his recovering mate, Vegeta was surprised when he felt Bulma's hand latch around his own, effectively stopping him from walking back into her bedroom and then to his own quarters.

"Wait Vegeta. Don't go! I'm sorry, really I am. It's not really funny, it's just that, well…"

"Well what? Pray tell."

Blushing faintly, Bulma let go of Vegeta's hand and waited while he turned around and peered into her eyes.

"I don't think you were telling me the truth about any of that. Except for the part about your favorite color being blue. Is it really so difficult to tell me about yourself?"

'Yes, Bulma, it is.' Vegeta thought to himself before answering her aloud.

"Look, I've never given any of that much thought, my survival taking precedence over the things that I have a fondness for or an interest in. When one's life is not their own to live, those trivial things matter little."

Bulma understood that, but Vegeta had been on Earth long enough to have realized that his life _was_ his own, so far as it was concerned here. In a way, it saddened her that he still hadn't found the time to find out the things that he enjoyed, but then again, it was Vegeta.

Standing up from where she was seated, Bulma took a step over to where Vegeta was standing uncertainly in front of her. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she rested her head on his shoulder and was happy when he didn't pull away from her embrace, even if he didn't reciprocate it.

"I understand Vegeta. I shouldn't have laughed. It's been hard, these last few years and…I shouldn't have. Thanks…I'll…I'll stop smoking, too, if it means something to you."

"It means nothing to me Onna." Vegeta grumbled into her hair, even though they both knew it was a lie.

"Whatever. I'm not going to get into another argument with you about it. We don't have much time together before tomorrow as it is. I'd rather…I'd rather not be upset with you, if that's okay?"

Why was she asking him if that was okay? Still, he supposed since they spent most of their time angry or annoyed with one another when they weren't having sex, it was a normal sort of question to ask. Grunting slightly, he found himself slowly wrapping his own arms around her back.

"Fine."

With that said, they pulled apart and headed back into Bulma's room to spend what time they had left together before Vegeta would leave early in the morning to make his final preparations for the Android's inevitable appearance.

_Early the next morning…_

Vegeta woke up with a start, finding himself once again wrapped in the blankets on Bulma's bed, her body pressed tightly against his own. Untangling his limbs from hers, he sat up slowly and slid out of the bed, making his way to the bathroom to relieve himself and then quickly clean his body as best he could before going to get dressed.

Finishing his business, he went over to the sink and thoroughly washed his hands before splashing cold water on his face. Today was the day. In less then five hours, he would be fighting against the maniacal creatures the boy from the future had warned them about. If, indeed, he had been telling the truth. In all honesty, Vegeta had no doubt that the youth had been completely honest when explaining the Android threat to his idiotic rival. And now it would be made clear if all of his training in the intervening years had paid off, if he was finally stronger then Kakarot. If not…Vegeta did not want to dwell on the ramifications and complications of such a possibility.

Stepping backwards, Vegeta turned off the bathroom light and then entered back into Bulma's room. Finding his discarded boxer shorts and t-shirt in the dim light, he slipped the underwear over his bottom half, covering his nakedness before making his way to Bulma's bedroom door. He was about to open the door when he heard Bulma's voice coming from the direction of the warm bed he had just recently left.

"What is it Woman?"

Waiting for her reply, Vegeta turned around impatiently and watched as he saw her turn on the nightstand light and clumsily climb out of her bed. Wrapping a blanket around her body, Bulma stumbled over to her desk and dug around in a drawer before pulling out a slim, metal case. Walking over to Vegeta, she handed it to him.

"It's a case containing capsules of the modified armor and uniforms you requested a couple of days ago. I was going to give them to you last night but I…"

She let her sentence trail off as he took the offered gift from her and held onto it in his hand.

"Vegeta…Vegeta, promise me you won't die."

Bulma had a feeling that it wasn't the right thing to say to him, especially when she saw the grimace that twisted his face, but she couldn't think of anything else that mattered more to her then him coming back alive. It wasn't that she thought poorly of his abilities. It went so much deeper then that, but she didn't think Vegeta would really understand her thinking.

"You think that lowly of my skills as a warrior? Have you no faith in me?"

Trying to think of someway to make him understand, Bulma unconsciously took a step closer towards him, hitching up her makeshift gown as she moved.

"It's not that Vegeta. I know you've done your best and you are ready for this battle. But…"

She was surprised when his free hand snaked up and snagged her chin, stroking the side of it with his thumb. Swallowing, she waited to see what he would do.

"I understand. I'll come back alive. Just…just do not interfere and put yourself in danger. I cannot look out for you."

With that said, Vegeta finally stepped away and slipped out the door, feeling unsettled that he had left Bulma being much more accommodating then he had planned on being. He had meant to put his walls back up after last night, yet for some stupid reason, he had tried to reassure her before reaffirming his unwillingness to protect her should she try to become willingly involved with his fight against the Androids. Shoving some of his burgeoning softness to the side, he entered his own room and changed into one of the new uniforms provided to him by Bulma. Ignoring the worry seeping into his subconscious from Bulma, he walked over to his own balcony doors, opening them up and stepping outside. Taking in a lungful of air, he looked up at the sky and blasted off, flying towards South City and his destiny.

_What is Vegeta's destiny, and how will his disastrous fight with the Androids affect his already tenuous relationship with Bulma? Find out in the next chapter. And feedback is appreciated!  
_


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